I Desperately Need You
by sarah-hart
Summary: Someone once said that drunken words were sober thoughts and they couldn't have been more right. Begins during "Blame It On the Alcohol" at Rachel's party. Could a new romance blossom from this drunken encounter? Complete with an Epilogue.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Yes, I realise it's been so long since I wrote a fan fiction and I've been quite bored lately and I got this idea after watching 'Blame it on the Alcohol' and noticing how shattered Quinn was every time Sam was with Santana or Brittany. I don't think it's going to be a particularly long story, about 5 or 6 chapters maximum. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it! **

Quinn struggled with her books as she made an honest attempt to pass down the hallway without getting slushied or knocked into a locker. After quitting the Cheerios a few weeks ago for Glee club, things certainly had not improved. New Directions were still desperately trying to convince the rest of the school that they weren't _total_ losers and failing. Horribly.

But that wasn't the worst of Quinn's troubles right now. No, not at all. Actually, she had barely even thought about it in these few passing weeks. Instead, she thought about _him_.

Quinn was sorry for her mistakes. She'd once said to Finn, "I've cheated twice in my life - first time, I got pregnant. Second time, I got mono. I think the universe is trying to tell me something," and she stood by those words.

Being sorry wasn't enough though. Not for Sam, anyway. What had happened in the past was in the past and he seemed to be moving on very quickly. Quinn had tried to convince herself that she was over it too, but in all honesty, she was dying inside. Everything had been so wonderful yet now it was all spiralling downwards like her worst nightmare.

Perhaps she would have gotten over it already if Santana had not been the very source of Sam's information and his new girlfriend. Gosh, she hated that girl with a passion. Santana had always been jealous of Quinn yet she had never been able to outrun the blonde. Well, things were changing now and Santana was ahead of Quinn and she hated that. She hated knowing every morning when she woke up that she would have to see them together, enjoying each others company. _That's what it used to be like with us,_ she would think, _or even better._

After finally reaching her locker, Quinn received a text. She produced the iPhone from her pocket and realised that it was from Rachel.

'Party at my place this Saturday, guys! I expect to see you all there and dressed for the occasion, seeing as it is my party.'

Quinn scoffed at it. As always, Rachel being her over-confident self. Sighing, she weighed her options. Most of her weekends now consisted of stuffing herself up in her bedroom and examining her stretch marks in the mirror, slapping all sorts of oils and creams on her skin with a hope that they'd finally go away. She had no such luck.

Now, a party at Rachel Berry's house might be lame but it couldn't be that lame… right? Or could it? Hm. She supposed she would go anyway. It was better than crying over what's been and done.

"Wow, Quinn…" the blonde sighed to herself as she stared into space, "sitting by yourself at Rachel Berry's party. How low…"

It was no secret that Quinn wasn't the queen of the school she once used to be but this was her all time low. Even in Glee, her only escape from reality, nobody even spared her a glance. Not even Finn, which she was furious about.

After all, it had been him who had enticed her into making out behind the scenes of her and Sam's relationship. And that which also ruined their relationship completely. He hadn't spoken to her since she'd become newly single. In fact, he'd been nothing but hostile to her. What was his problem?

Even worse, Quinn caught a disturbing image in the corner of her eye that she couldn't seem to look away from, although she wished she could. Santana sat upon Sam's lap, their lips pressed together viciously. She played with his hair and explored his body. She felt like screaming, 'GET A ROOM!' but she knew that she couldn't. Although she didn't particularly like Rachel Berry, she had no intentions of ruining her party.

But it seemed like Rachel was doing that for herself already. During Glee sometime last week, Rachel had promised alcohol since her dads were out of town for a couple of days yet all that was on offer was a maximum of two drinks per person. And Quinn thought this wouldn't be lame.

Feeling as if she was about to scream, Quinn removed herself from that corner of the room so that she could no longer see Sam and Santana. She couldn't bare to look at him.

"Hey girlfriend!" Rachel exclaimed, approaching her in a hideous green dress that looked like she belonged at Sunday school, "having fun?"

Twiddling her thumbs, Quinn nodded and swallowed the painful lump forming in the back of her throat.

"Yeah… awesome party." she lied through a tightly forced smile as she glanced wistfully behind her to where Sam and Santana sat.

Oh how she wished that it was her upon Sam's lap. He could do so much better than Santana. She was so _easy_. Quinn wondered if she regretted not putting out for him during their relationship. If she had done so, perhaps they would still be together now. Is that what he wanted? Did he really care if she'd cheated with Finn and gotten mono to prove it or did he just want… _that_?

All her time with Sam, Quinn had sworn to herself that the reason and the only reason she had not put out for Sam was because it was an unholy thing to do and she wanted to be sensible but deep down, Quinn was just insecure. She _hated_ her body after what having a child had done to it. She was afraid of what he might think when he saw it and now that he could have full access to Santana's, why on earth would he was some stretched-marked wreck?

He wouldn't.

The party had taken an unexpected twist. The alcohol was out of Rachel's dad's liquor cabinet, probably thanks to Puck. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves but Quinn was unsure. Did she really want to touch another drink after last time? Probably not. No, definitely a bad idea.

But she couldn't resist and soon enough she was taking her chances. She'd drunk a bottle of Absolut Vodka all to herself and the room was spinning. Or was it upside down? She couldn't quite make out the difference. Not to mention the Tequila and shots mixed in.

Soon enough, the entire room found themselves in a game of spin the bottle. Reluctantly, Quinn had decided to join in although Finn, who wasn't drinking, and Santana sat at the sidelines. If Santana wanted to make out with any of the guys in this room, she could have done it without a bottle in between them. And the girls too, judging by the amount of liquor being shared.

Quinn giggled hysterically as she watched Blaine and Rachel make out drunkenly, as did the rest of the room. They clapped and whooped like wild animals going on some crazy rampage.

"Okay, okay! That's enough, next one!" Kurt exclaimed hastily as he made a grab for the bottle in the middle of the room. He spun the bottle around and the whole circle waited in anticipation of who it would land on.

Her vision blurred but once Quinn was quite sure that the bottle had stopped, she realised that one of it's ends was pointing to her. She giggled hysterically until she glanced up to realise who the other end had landed on.

The rest of the room burst into 'ooh's' and 'ahh's' but no matter how intoxicated Quinn may have been, she couldn't help but scramble for composure when Sam's eyes met hers for what had probably be the first time since their break-up.

Quinn winced when she realised that he wasn't looking at her with the same seriousness that she held. In fact, he was sporting a stupid lop-sided grin that made his lips look even bigger if that was even possible.

Her expression changed when she realised in her peripheral vision that Santana was growling with jealousy. Her eyes could've even been glowing green and Quinn would've believed that it was totally normal. Suddenly, the blonde found herself mirroring Sam's grin.

"Nah-uh!" Santana protested, coming into the circle for the first time, "I don't think so! Those guppy-lips belong to me. No me gusta!" she tried to pull Sam back until she found that Sam was protesting against _her._

"The bottle has chosen," he argued in a dorky, low voice which caused Quinn to suppress a girlish giggle, "It's just a game Santana."

"Yeah!" "It's just a game!" "You can't bend he rules, sandbags!" yells could be heard throughout the circle until Santana made a loud moan and sulked off to the corner of the room.

Sam returned his attention to Quinn who had not said a thing since the bottle had landed in between them.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Brittany began the chant and soon enough the whole circle was joining in apart from Finn and Santana, who sat off in the sidelines.

Finally, Quinn gave in. "Okay!" she exclaimed as they both scrambled into the middle of the circle until they met each other.

Quinn remembered the feeling of his touch so fondly. It was soft and sent chills down her spine. She was sure that she had never felt like this about anyone before, apart from maybe Finn but that love had seemed robotic. This one had been real and genuine. It had been a breath of fresh air.

The chants continued as Sam placed his hands on Quinn's hips and began to caress them drunkenly. Quinn's heart beat heavily as she pushed her arms around his neck. _Just breathe, Quinn,_ she instructed yourself, _you've kissed him before and this doesn't mean anything._

But that was before the kiss.

The kiss. Wow, the kiss. It was hot and heavy but it was passionate and intense and exciting and everything a kiss should be, drunk or not. Soon enough, Sam had pried Quinn's lips open and their tongues were slashing violently against one another. She had spread her things through his hair, his soft and luscious blonde hair.

_Lemon juice,_ she remembered, _when we were in Breadsticks, he had told me he bleached his hair with lemon juice._ She began to giggle through the kiss.

Cheers made the room spin even more so, if possible. Sam enjoyed Quinn's touch underneath his hands like a childhood memory come back to life. _She had a thing about wearing her boyfriend's clothes,_ he recalled and now he was laughing too.

"I hate you so much because I loved you so much!" Quinn whispered breathlessly between kisses, almost silently so that only Sam could hear.

"I miss you," Sam replied during the next break between kisses so that his words only met Quinn's senses, "so fucking much."

After a good two minutes or so, they pulled away from each other reluctantly.

The room fell unusually silent for a crowd of drunken teenagers. They all stared dumfounded with lips parted as Sam and Quinn looked into each other's eyes, still holding each other desperately.

"That was hot…" Puck remarked, his eyes wide with excitement.

Neither of them looked at him. Sam gulped as his eyes bore into Quinn's and Quinn could have sworn that she saw a glimpse of regret in his emerald green pools. Not regret of that kiss but regret that it hadn't happened naturally. That they weren't together. Longing, for Quinn. Not for Santana. For Quinn.

And she was right. Sam was retracing his steps. He'd realised he'd broken up for Quinn with a reason… but he couldn't quite remember that reason.

Shouts and groans for them to move of the way awoke them from their staring contest and soon enough they backed away out of the middle of the circle to make space for the bottle.

For the rest of that game, Sam and Quinn both smiled and cheered drunkenly along with the rest of the circle but every once in a while they would glance over at one another and catch each other looking. They would avert their gaze hastily but they couldn't deny that they were both longing and wistful for each other, despite any intoxication.

Quinn had assumed that was all over once the game had finished but as she danced drunkenly with Lauren and Tina until Sam walked beside her. He seemed innocent, but their hands collided, causing Quinn's breath to hitch and her heart beat to increase.

It was only when he'd left that he realised he had place a piece of paper in her hand when their fingers had intertwined.

'Meet me in Rachel's bedroom in ten minutes.'

**Thanks for reading! I want some feedback before I write the next chapter please. I want to know whether to continue or not!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh my gosh, guys! I really want to thank you all for the incredible feedback! Some of the reviews have been really lovely, I enjoyed reading your views on the story so far. But before you read this chapter, I'll warn you that yes, it is mainly nothing but a sex scene. I hope you enjoy it though because I tried really hard to put the character's emotions into it!**

Sam wasted no time in getting up to Rachel's room. He quickly made an excuse to the others that he was going to use the upstairs bathroom because the other was occupied. Not that any of them would have noticed anyway - they were all really that drunk.

Once arriving, he had to wait a few minutes for Quinn. He remembered she was an intelligent girl. Drunk or not, she realised that people would have found something strange about them both going to the bathroom at the same time.

But gosh, that _kiss._ Sam simply couldn't stop thinking about it - the taste of her lip gloss, the smell of her perfume rising from her neck. She was intoxicating. He sat upon the freshly made sheets of Rachel's bed, closing his eyes and savouring the memories of their tongues sloshing together violently. It was almost enough to just think about it. Almost.

As soon as Sam heard the familiar pattern of Quinn's feet padded up the stairs, he quickly jumped up from the bed and strolled to the other side of the room, looking out of the window anxiously. _What do I say?_ he asked himself, _where do I begin?_

He noticed how her footsteps slowed as she approached the room. _Typical Quinn_, he thought. He remembered how she always considered what she was doing yet somehow managed to end up being reckless all the time anyway.

The door creaked as she peeked through, stepping into the room timidly. Sam's heartbeat increased, his palms shaking and sweating. And was that butterflies he could feel? It was like their very first time together all over again, yet more drunken and heedless with more to loose than to gain.

"You asked me for me?" her words were quiet and cautious. She was being careful but Sam knew her well enough to know that she knew exactly why she was here. Heck, if she didn't want to be there, Quinn could have simply refused and left it at that and Sam would have happily ignored her for the rest of the night.

But that didn't excuse the passion and gravitational pull he was feeling towards her that night. He needed her - he needed to _feel _her. He could imagine his skin against hers, their hot breaths colliding in a way that so vivid it was just enough to nearly drive him insane.

Before Quinn could say another words, Sam pounced on her like a wild animal. He flew across the space between them in a matter of milliseconds, pulling her to him and crushing their lips together as if their lives both intended on it. Quinn didn't even act shocked. She simply followed his wordless instructions, kissing him back passionately as if nothing had ever been wrong.

"You know we could get into serious trouble for this…" she whispered breathlessly after they had decided to pull away on mutual consent, knowing that they would probably suffocate themselves if they kissed any longer.

Sam gulped and he pressed his forehead to hers, closing his eyes as he clasped his hands around her dainty feminine wrists. Her voice was so sweet and suffocating. Sometimes he couldn't even concentrate on what she was saying - he just wanted to hear her, to see her, to _feel_ her there beside him.

"I don't care." he finally answered deadpan, leaving Quinn speechless. Her eyes bore into his and they continued to look at each other intently for a few moments. His eyes were serious and definite with no sign of regret or worry.

"Then neither do I."

Before either of them knew it, they were kissing again. Sam could feel himself sweating even more as Quinn's fingers seductively traced his collar, her arms draped around his neck and clinging to him for security. No matter how close they were, he wanted them to be closer. He needed to be closer to her. It was _never_ enough.

The shirt came off. Quinn undid the buttons quickly and hastily, simply because pulling the shirt off meant that their kissing would have to stop and neither of them wanted that. Nevertheless, it was flung to the side of the room and they were on each other again.

Quinn sent a hot trail of kisses down Sam's jaw line, sucking and biting on his skin and leaving purple marks behind, causing him to moan with ecstasy. This girl was too good to be true.

When their lips met again, Quinn began to remove her jean jacket. Once it was off, she played with the waistband on his jeans, teasing Sam in a way that he had never been teased before. Santana had never done all this foreplay - it was always straight to the point with her. This foreplay to Sam was frustrating and it played with his mind, yet he liked it. It set his senses alight. Or maybe that was just Quinn. Possibly. Probably.

Gasping for air, Sam broke away and closed his eyes, leaning his head backwards as he waited for Quinn to continue. "Just do it already!" he commanded.

He had to say no more. Quinn undid the zipper on his jeans almost before the words were out there, like she was reading his mind. They both used their energy to pull them down as it would be faster and as soon as they were off, they could touch again.

Sam remembered the pressure of looking good for Quinn. He never forgot. Santana didn't bother him about it, she was just happy for sex and to enhance her social status. But he needed Quinn to accept him. He wanted to be good for her. He wanted to prove that he was a man, and he could be her man. Then everything would be alright.

Between kissing, Sam managed to grasp the zipper at the back of Quinn's dress. He was just about to tug it down when Quinn pulled away immediately.

"Don't!" she whisper-yelled hastily, her expression scared and confused like a deer caught in headlights.

Sam's eyebrows furrowed. He stared at the girl with confusion and passion still burning deep in his emerald green eyes. "W-What do you mean?" he asked breathless as Quinn pinched the bridge of her nose, her cheeks burning crimson as she gulped.

"You don't want to see it…" she murmured whilst staring into nothing, her eyes now swollen with tears.

Sam scrambled towards her and held her elbows, soothing them softly with his finger tips and reassuring her. He was desperate to touch her all over but he didn't want to scare her. He knew if he wanted this to work, he would have to be careful. He always had to be careful with Quinn after what had happened in her past. "See what?" he slurred.

Quinn choked, tears rolling down her face. "My body! You don't want to see it!" she yelled as she clasped her eyes shut and cried silent tears. She let out a small moan before stumbling backwards and falling against the wall.

At first, Sam was unsure of how to react. What was this? He had been so close, _so close_ to them just being together. Why was she suddenly resenting him? And what was wrong with her body? Then, he fell to his knees in front of the girl who was now sobbing her heart out and jerking as the tears fell.

"Quinn, what are you talking about?" he mumbled, holding her hand in his and using his thumb to wipe away her teardrops. "Of course I want to see you."

Quinn shook her head. "No, you _don't_, Sam! It's awful… what it's done to me… I can't-" she would have finished that sentence if she had not been bawling so hard.

Sam felt his heart sink and his stomach turn. Was that it? Was that his chance to be close to Quinn again over? No. He wouldn't let it be. He had tonight, just tonight. He could make up excuses in the morning, when things were done and dusted. He would not let this chance go to waste, even if it was the most thoughtless thing he'd ever done.

He kissed her gently on the lips, soothing and caressing her thighs. He bit on her lower lip tenderly and Quinn didn't resist. She didn't react either though. She just took what she was given and gradually stopped jerking, her tears slowing down.

"You don't understand…" she panted as she held his face in her hands, refusing to open her clenched eyes. "I used to be beautiful. Now I'm ruined…"

Finally, Sam knew what she was talking about. He wasn't quite sure if Quinn was being to vague for him to clasp it other whether he'd just drunk to much and couldn't process it fast enough but he understood now.

The baby. The baby she'd given birth to had left her body scarred. How was he to answer that? It wasn't a subject you could often touch on with girls, especially not girls with self-esteem as low as Quinn's. But his mind had no say in this. He couldn't control the words that came out, it was an act of drunkenness and need. What he said came from impulse.

"You're beautiful. Now matter how you feel you look, you're beautiful to me."

Quinn's eyelids fluttered. She opened her eyes eventually and glowered at him, almost as if she was assessing his answer and deciding if he was telling the truth or not. Sam guessed by her reaction that she had suspected his words were truthful as before he could take another breath, her lips were on his again and her tongue was piercing into his mouth relentlessly as she sucked his breaths out of him one by one.

"I loved you, Sam Evans…" she murmured between kisses, "and I never stopped."

Sam lifted her to the ground as his lips remained on hers. Slowly, he began to reach for the zipper again, trying not to frighten or startle her. He felt her wince slightly at the sound of his pulling downwards but she never resisted. The party going on downstairs was irrelevant, no matter how loud it was. All they could hear was each other.

Once the dress was on the floor, Sam gazed upon Quinn's body in nothing but a lacy black bra and matching panties. She had a flat stomach, admirable curves and legs to die for. What stretch marks?

Quinn covered her body, folding her arms uncomfortably and self consciously. "I know… it's horrible…" she whispered.

Sam shook his head and pressed her body close to his, breathing in her scent and as closed his eyes and sucked and bit on the skin of her shoulder. "Whatever the mirror told you, it was lying…" he murmured, tangled his fingers in her soft blonde hair, "because you're perfect and nothing will ever change that."

They touched each other and kissed until they finally made the decision to go to the bed. He picked her up and lay her on top of the untouched sheets, her pale complexion contrasting with the crimson red of the sheets. She looked like an angel.

He lay beside the angel, pondering whether or not he should make a move to remove her underwear. He didn't have to. Quinn had already yanked his boxer shorts down violently and wrapped her legs around his torso. She struggled until she was on top of him and Sam could feel his flesh hardening. There was no turning back now, he realised.

Quinn bent down and caressed the skin on his chest with her lips, touching him all over. He sat up on his elbows and released the hook on her bra, tracing the small of her back with his fingertips.

Closing her eyes gently, Quinn allowed every piece of clothing on her body fall to the ground as did the walls she had built up around herself over the past few weeks.

Sam was dizzy with passion once it had finished. Or was that the alcohol? Or was it just Quinn in general? It could have been all three. He had a headache from the rocking and all that motion and he felt like he needed to throw up but at the same time, he wanted to do it all over again. It was nothing like it had been with Santana. It was much more emotional and passionate and breathtaking. Every motion she made sent him wild.

They lay down on the sheets next to one another, panting and sweating like crazy. "What ever did you do with that ring I bought you?" he asked out of curiosity once he had the breath to. It was random and irrelevant but he grinned and chuckled at the memories of 'proposing' to Quinn. It almost made him blush.

Quinn laughed too but not as good-humouredly as he did. She glanced over at him with a knowing look in her eyes. "It sits in my room, in the box you gave it to me. It never moves, nobody touches it and I wont let anyone touch it. You gave it to me, it belongs to me and it stays with me forever."

Everything either of them had told themselves about being over one another was now nothing but a lie in what seemed like the distant past because as long as their limbs were intertwined and they were close to each other, everything was beautiful. As long as they were with each other, nothing could go wrong.

**Well… what do you think? I know it might be a little much but I hope you liked it. I'd really like some more feedback please, give me your views! I'm still not quite sure where this series is going but I'm enjoying writing it so maybe it will last a bit longer than I expected. Who knows? ;)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**It's me again! :D Okay, first of all I need to thank you guys again for all the really lovely reviews. I'm so glad you're enjoying reading this story and its also nice to hear all the opinions too! Secondly, I want to apologise that this update is a little slower than the last one. I've had a lot of exams and coursework deadline dates this week so I've been behind in my writing but I can put all that behind me now and get back to what I really love - Quinn/Sam! And lastly, as always, I hope you like this chapter! :]**

A scream pierced through the house like the sound of chalk scraping on a blackboard.

This was not just your average Rachel Berry shriek and if you knew Rachel Berry, that was pretty severe. But no - it was ten times worse than that. _Magnified_.

After waking up promptly at… well, quarter past one in the afternoon, Rachel had decided that a morning stroll around an empty house to cure her hangover and try to remember what had actually happened last night. Completely normal, right?

Wrong.

Turns out her house wasn't as empty as she'd expected it to be. The moment she had took a peak into her dad's room, she'd discovered that the furniture had been launched around the room in various different directions. _Must've been some party,_ she thought to herself.

The second thing she noticed was that clothes were sparsely scattered across the plush carpet, none of them ringing a bell or claiming and familiarity. _Strange,_ she thought, _I don't recall having a dress of that pattern._

And lastly, she noticed that she sheets were crumpled and ruined. Rachel wouldn't have minded at all. In fact, she quite liked cleaning because each time she did it she could tick a day off of that list - yes, that list. The one that meant she was one day closer to being so famous that she wouldn't need to worry about cleaning her house ever again. And that day _would_ come. She was certain of it.

But, Rachel did mind. Know why? I bet you've guessed. It was the lumps she discovered _underneath_ the sheets that evoked her disgust, anger, disbelief… whatever you wanted to call it. Yes, that right people. Underneath Rachel Berry's father's sheets was a completely naked couple, their limbs intertwined as they slept soundly after a heavy night of alcohol.

That was until Rachel awoke Sam with her screams, of course.

His eyes shot open as he cringed at the sound. What time was it? Certainly not late enough to be screaming like that, he was sure. And what was that sound in his head? Oh my God. Make it stop!

He ran his hands through his morning locks and scrambled until he sat upright against the head of the bed, his eyes picking and choosing between open and closed. "W-W…What time is it?" he managed to mumble out as he tried to drown out the banging in his head.

To his confusion, he received no response as Rachel was already scrambling around the room, fixing cluttered pieces of furniture and throwing clothes at Sam.

"W-… Rachel? Is that you?" Sam finally came to a realisation as the shirt he thought he remembered from last night slapped him in the face. "What the hell are you doing in my-… room…" his confusion soon turned to dread. He glanced around his surroundings. This was _not_ his room. Not unless his mom had decided to replace all his football posters and hair products with abstract paintings and a velvet bread spread. Hey, it was a possibility.

Then he saw Rachel Berry and realised that fantasy was far from possible.

"Ew, ew, ew! This is _dis-gus-ting_!" Rachel squealed as she grabbed a pair of tongs from a draw and tried to pinch Sam's underwear with them and hand them to him.

"W-Wait, how… no, _why_ do you keep a pair of tongs in your draw?" he asked. He had hoped that the pounding in his head would reduce. Instead, it had been intensified with all these questioned piled on top of it.

Rachel didn't reply. She just kept scurrying around the room, not asking questions and moaning at how Sam was a 'vile creature' and 'simply a bump in the road on her way to stardom' but as she did, Sam questioned.

What really did happen that night? He remembered coming to Rachel's party which had seemed pretty boring at first, until she had broken into her dad's liquor cabinet. Then there was a lot of booze. He remembered tequila in particular, making out with Santana… was there a game of spin the bottle? He remembered kissing _someone_… he was pretty sure it was a girl but he still couldn't put a name or face to the memory.

For the first time, Sam realised that he was not the only occupant of the bed. He saw a lump under the covers and felt his throat swell up. That was _not_ the shape of Santana. When she slept after sex, she was just a disarray of sheets with half her body hanging off the bed if she had not already escaped through the window if Sam had woken up, and that was very rare.

No, this lump was different, if you could even use the term 'lump'. It was peaceful and almost dainty especially after what had seemed like a rugged night. There was a familiarity about it that fascinated him yet at the same time he could have sworn he'd never seen anything so delightfully angelic before.

His heart stopped, his breath hitched. _Should I peel back the sheets?_, he thought, afraid that he may wake the sleeping figure. Slowly and cautiously, he began to reach for the corner of the sheet but his actions were halted by yet another ear-piercing scream.

"These sheets are so _wet_! Sam, what have you been doing?" Rachel exclaimed furiously as she reluctantly poked around the velvet, her face crumpled in disgust. "And would you put that underwear on already? I have a feeling you might blind me if I see something inappropriate and I think my lawyer might have something to say about that."

The scream took Sam by such a surprise that he jumped and immediately began scrambling for his boxers as Rachel glanced in the complete opposite direction. He threaded his feet in and pulled them up quickly until they lay comfortable around his hips. "I-I'm so sorry… I don't know what happened her last night. I-"

Rachel scoffed as she kicked a random item of clothing out of her pathway. Sam then realised for the first time that she looked like absolute hell. He guessed that everyone must have had it rough last night.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you must have a better idea than me seeing as you're not alone here… how dare you sleep with someone in _my_ house without _my_ permission! In fact, I would never, _ever_ give you permission to…"

Sam droned out for the rest of Rachel's furious and mindless rambling as he attention was somewhere else - that girl. At least, he hoped it was a girl. Oh my gosh, what if it was _Kurt_ that was beside him? He had always had quite a feminine build. For all Sam knew, there was a greater possibility that it could be him.

His palms sweat and an anchor dropped in his stomach. He was sure it wasn't Santana and although he didn't know why he knew that, he was adamant that it wasn't her. It couldn't be Brittany because the figure was too small. It couldn't have been Lauren or Mercedes or Tina…

Sam forgot to breathe. No, it couldn't be… could it? Was it possibly Quinn under those sheets or was he crazy? His fingers shook as he reached for the sheets. He hesitated to pull them back yet he did so anyway.

He had been right. There lay Quinn, sleeping peacefully with a slight smile on her face. A sleeping angel. No wonder there had been a familiarity about Quinn's sleeping figure - he had remembered it from his dreams or at least his fantasies. What it would be like to kiss her with a fiery passion, to touch with without her flinching away or making an excuse…

"Oh my God…" be breathed. He had slept with Quinn last night and he couldn't remember a single moment of it. Everything that he had been longing for the past few weeks yet was too afraid to ask because he didn't want to seem like a pushover… it had all happened. Yet he still didn't have an answer for himself because he'd missed it. He would have blamed it on the alcohol if his thoughts hadn't been disrupted as Quinn began to move, her eyelids fluttering.

Sam jumped up from the bed reflexively. He hushed Rachel and clamped a hand over her mouth. The brunette protested but Sam's insists were stronger. Sam couldn't believe what he was about to do but he knew it was for the best. If Quinn didn't know what happened last night then it would be easier for both of them.

"When she wakes up, she has no idea that I was here. Okay?" he demanded as he clamped Rachel's wrist tighter.

Rachel stopped struggling and nodded yet her eyes were still wide open with fright.

"Good. And if she doesn't, there'll be consequences. I promise you that." he hissed before letting go of her. Rachel gasped melodramatically as Sam managed to pull his jeans on and pull his t-shirt over his head. He collected all of his belongings that he could see as Rachel timidly glanced at Quinn, who looked as if she were about to wake up soon.

Once Sam was ready, he headed straight for the door. Rachel's house wasn't far from his and seeing as he head no money as Puck had probably stolen his wallet, he didn't mind walking. Yet as he stepped through the doorway of the bedroom he felt compelled to take one last reluctant glance upon Quinn.

_Sleeping angel…_ his thoughts reiterated the phrase. It was perfect for her, so fitting. She was lifeless and utterly still yet her cheeks were vivid and her smudged makeup perfect in a flawed way. Sighing, he forced himself to turn away and head out of the room.

Sam walked out of Rachel Berry's house that day whilst praying that he would be able to keep his dignity.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her." he murmured to himself as the cold February air hit him like train.

* * *

Quinn sighed as she slipped last night's underwear on once again. Disgusting, yes she realised that, but it was better than _borrowing_ underwear. Especially from Rachel. Ew.

She remembered quite clearly the story Rachel had told her: she took in far too much alcohol last night and had passed out on the bed when she had gone up to the toilet. But it still didn't seem correct to Quinn. Rachel wasn't the most convincing liar but Quinn still wasn't sure whether to believe it or not. It seemed like a reasonable story but something was missing… she remembered…

Nothing and that was the problem. She remembered nothing and no matter how hard she tried, nothing seemed to work. She was stuck.

Quinn shrugged it off. She was being paranoid and stupid. There was no reason for her not to believe Rachel and therefore she would believe her.

When Quinn was finished dressing in her underwear, she automatically made her way to the mirror, almost robotically. She viewed herself in the full-length mirror. _Not bad_, she thought, _an improvement from last time._ At least she hoped. Everyday she prayed that it would get a little better but she was never quite sure whether she was just being blindly optimistic or realistic.

Just as she was about to turn, Quinn noticed a purplish bruise on her neck. She touched it and felt a string run through her body. "Ow…" she mumbled, "What the…?"

She soon realised that this wasn't just a bruise. Nope, this was a love bite. A hickey. Whatever you wanted to call it, it was there loud and proud. Well, maybe not so much proud but it was still there.

Quinn almost gasped at this discovery yet her throat was too dry to scream. Anything. She stumbled backwards. "Oh no… not again, not again… _please_ not again…" she almost cried to herself. "Rachel? Rachel?" she yelled as she scrambled around the room.

There was no answer and Quinn found herself tripping over and falling hard on the floor, her hangover shaking her head violently. "Ow…" she mumbled again as she scrunched her face up in pain.

Quinn couldn't find the energy to get back up again so she lay in the carpet completely still. She rested her head against it embraced this stillness. "I'm never drinking again." she promised herself. After all, she should know best after what had happened last time. It had been stupid of her to come last night but she had because she was reckless and idiotic.

She'd also came because she was sure there was something hanging in the air. Something had almost compelled her to go. Not that it was any excuse, of course, but Quinn couldn't help but feel like some pull of fate had brought her there that night.

And a cruel fate from what she had picked up so far. From her lying position, she'd noticed that a wallet was sitting under the bed. It was out of place and from that Quinn was sure that it must have belonged to her mystery man of last night.

Yes, a mystery man. That would explain the vicious love bites. What it didn't explain was Rachel's lies. What was Rachel trying to cover up? What was in it for her if Quinn was unaware of who this guy was?

Quinn sighed and reached under the bed until she pulled out the wallet. She dressed hastily and slipped the wallet in her handbag. She called a cab and left the house without saying goodbye to Rachel. Instead she left a note, thanking her for the party and the night and the explanation, although she knew that Rachel had been lying.

* * *

Quinn arrived home and headed straight to her room. She was aware that her eyes most probably had dark circles surrounding it and she was already on bad terms with her parents after the whole Beth thing. She did not want to throw herself into the deep end by being found guilty of teenage drinking to.

Not that they really cared. She didn't speak to them anymore unless it was absolutely necessary. It was almost as if they had an unspoken mutual agreement - the sooner she moved out, the better and it was as simple as that.

Once she was in her room, she wasted time to avoid looking at the wallet. She knew that it would have some form of ID or at least a clue to who this mystery lover was yet she didn't was scared to look. Instead, she emptied her bag and cleaned herself up. She took a shower and put on her pyjamas as she was pretty sure that going anywhere today seemed unlikely. Surely all her friends were going to be hung over out of the very few friends she had, even in Glee club.

After a while, Quinn realised that she couldn't put it off any longer. She was being childish. There was no reason for her to be scared. Really, she should have been more anxious or excited to open the wallet like solving a mystery but she wasn't. She was scared.

She sat on her bed, wallet in front of her and screaming to be opened. "This is it…" she sighed to herself as her hand shook. She reached for it.

Then she stopped, deadpan. "No…" she whispered, shaking her head and pulling her hand away. _I've already had enough heart break in my life. I don't need it again by finding out that there's yet another guy who'll only love me because I'm drunk._

Quinn didn't need any more convincement. She was adamant that she wouldn't change her mind and she didn't want to see what was inside that wallet. Tears dripping down her face, she scrambled into the back of her wardrobe until she found a box with a lock on it. She opened it with a key she found deep in her drawer and skimmed through the contents - memories of her and Finn, a few of her very first baby scans - and then shoved the wallet into the box. She locked with without another thought and through the key into the deepest draw she could find.

It was probably dishonest and selfish of her but she made a vow that the wallet would not return to it's owner. She felt it was better for both of them if they believed a fantasy that they had not slept with a teenage wreck on legs.

**Tada! What did you think? Feedback would be incredibly as usual! I know I dragged it out a bit and you probably hate me right now for what I've done but I promise you'll I find a way to fix it… somehow ;) haha! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey people! Yes, it's time for another chapter… I'm really loving writing this fan fiction. It's very enjoyable and I'm glad that (I'm guessing from the reviews) that you're enjoying it too! I'm not an amazingly experienced writer so its really nice to see that all the feedback has been positive so far :) enjoy!**

Quinn sighed as she slammed her locker shut. What a day this had been already and now she had to face the Glee kids.

Firstly, there was the confrontation her mother had given her this morning. Before even arriving at school, she'd had to deal with 'you're lucky I still allow you through my door' and 'I don't see a daughter in you anymore' which was just peachy.

Then, there was that F that she'd gotten on her English paper which she had spent a whole weekend putting her soul into. It was great to know that hard work was appreciated around here.

Oh and of course there was the hangover, still there loud and proud from Saturday night. She had hoped it would have passed over by now but she hadn't slept a wink the night before. How could she when that wallet was sitting in the depths of her room? How could she even consider settling with all those emotions bottled up inside of her?

A few weeks ago, Glee would've been the highlight of Quinn's week. She was on top, the head cheerleader and she had Sam. The drama of last year was still there but at least it had faded slightly. She would never find another kid calling her a 'knocked up bitch' again. Well, at least they wouldn't say it to her face. That was an improvement.

But after things had headed south, Quinn was beginning to dread Glee more and more every week. She hated facing the kids that made her heart ache yet she had no one to talk to it to. She didn't have a best friend or a place she could call home. Once upon a time, that would've been Finn or Sam but there was no room for her in their hearts anymore. They'd left her out in the cold, all because of her own stupid mistakes.

With reluctance, the blonde adjusted her polar necked sweater to ensure that her still-aching love bites were well hidden. It was one thing trying to hide them from other people but hiding them from herself were her main priority.

She strolled to the choir room slowly, hoping that she would be slightly late to avoid absentmindedly eavesdropping on conversations she didn't want to hear.

Unfortunately, when she arrived Mr. Schuester still hadn't arrived so she sulked off to the back of the room as usual. She was actually one of the first there.

Rachel entered the room. She shot an odd and awkward glance to Quinn but quickly turned away. For a moment, Quinn felt like confronting her over her lies but then quickly decided against it. Who was she to call out Rachel? She would only be embarrassing herself too. If the rest of the kids found out that she'd had another night of drunken sex, she would never hear the end of it.

Several others entered the room, including Santana and Sam arm in arm, whom Quinn swiftly pretended to ignore although she was dying inside.

Finn was the last to enter the room. Quinn didn't think much of it at first but then she met his eyes and her breathing hitched. What if…

"Oh my gosh…" she breathed, refusing to pull her attention away from him. Finn didn't seem to notice but Quinn's eyes were wide with something of fear or resentment. It couldn't be, could it? Was it Finn? Was it him all along? She refused to believe it.

But then again, it would kind of make sense if you pieced it together rightly. Why else would Rachel not tell Quinn what had really happened that night? It was obvious - because she was jealous and she still wanted Finn. She was afraid that Quinn was a little competition. Well, if that's how she thought it worked that she was wrong.

Quinn was convinced that she had slept with Finn Saturday night and there was nothing in her path to stop her from getting revenge for Rachel's lies. Nothing.

* * *

Quinn wasn't completely cruel. She waited until Glee was finished to make a move but her motives were purely those of vengeance. Although Quinn knew that she should know better, she didn't let that stop her. If Rachel thought that she could just blow this off like it was nothing, she must've been delusional. Besides, there had been sparks the last time her and Finn had kissed. Who was to say that it couldn't happen again?

"Finn," Quinn called out as the rest of the group emptied the room, leaving everything eerily silent, "we need to talk."

Finn turned around and Quinn could immediately tell that he was worried. He was afraid that she was going to yell something about how he'd wrecked her love life and then still hadn't bothered to make a move, but even if Quinn wasn't about to do what she was about to do, she was pretty sure she couldn't have said anything to him about that anyway. It took two people to commit something as bad as cheating. She didn't blame Finn for what happened, she was just upset that he'd not done anything about it.

"Okay… about what?" he asked nervously, but anyone could tell by his eyes that he was pretty sure he knew what.

Quinn sighed. _It doesn't have to be this way,_ she told herself,_ you could just ask Rachel straight_. But there was a part of her, an old part of her from her past, that had been dying inside of her for a few weeks now. She thought that she changed but deep down she still wanted to be the mean girl. She still got a thrill from making others pay.

And then she kissed him.

She didn't hesitate. She just went straight in for it and Finn didn't rebel either. He simply went along with it, enjoying the kiss. There wasn't the kind of fireworks that they'd experienced previously because part of that thrill had been the secrecy about it but it still had something that kept both of them hanging on. For Quinn it was like looking at pictures of how things used to be but knowing that although you enjoyed those times, its not really what you longed for.

Once everything was over, both of them stared at each other breathlessly. Finn had that 'I-don't-know-what-happened' expression that he always seemed to have, Quinn was serene and serious.

"I can't stop thinking about you…" she whispered, averting her gaze to the floor. It was a lie because although she had thought of Finn, her main priority was certainly Sam.

"I can't stop thinking about you either, Quinn." he replied as he pulled her into a tight embrace, "After everything that's happened… I apologise. I've been wrong. We should have spoken to each other and worked things out. I guess I just kind of chickened out. I'm so sorry, Quinn."

There it was. Proof. He was admitting to everything and she'd been right. It gave her a twisted sense of accomplishment. She'd outsmarted the others yet again. She was one step ahead of them. One very big step at that.

Welcome back, old Quinn.

* * *

Sam could have pulled his hair out with the tension that had been building in him. He couldn't sleep or eat. He could only think of her and try to imagine her soft skin under rough touching. The little memories he had were far from being able to piece things together or relive the sensation again. It was too much.

It was kind of his own fault. It shouldn't have happened that way and he knew it. They shouldn't have reconciled through drunken love but through an honest talk. At first, his entire problem with the situation was seeming weak to Quinn's command. He knew of her previous tendency to be cruel and unforgiving and he didn't want to let that get to him. He didn't want to be a pushover.

But then again, he'd realised he didn't care.

"I love Quinn Fabray." he told the bathroom mirror. The boy's toilets were empty and he had all this time to himself. He was sure that whatever class he was missing was far less important that his own thoughts right now.

Then, there was that night. Oh what he would have given to be able to remember or to have not been drunk. He would've freely admitted what had happened if he hadn't been afraid of hurting her. He was also afraid that she would take it the wrong way, look at him like he was a creep and cry. He didn't want her to cry. He wanted her to be happy with him and he wanted things to happen naturally.

But things could never happen naturally. Not with them anyway. Especially not with Quinn Fabray. Everything always had to be complicated and distorted. If there was any way that things were going to return to how they were, Sam was sure there was only one way and one way only to do that and he would begin there.

Honesty.

It was potentially disastrous, yes, but there was always a light in the dark when it came to honesty. They could either take it horribly and never speak to you again or they could feel grateful that you'd given them the truth and Sam decided that either of those were better than if she found out he was lying and hiding from her. If she found out that then there would be no hope. They'd probably ignore each other for the rest of their lives.

And he wouldn't let that happen. Never in his worst nightmares could he ignore Quinn. He wasn't sure how much longer he could take this - pretending not to care, hoping that Santana was making Quinn jealous. If she was, Quinn wasn't letting on.

"I love Quinn Fabray." he repeated but louder this time and more confident. That confidence radiated off his reflection now. It was in his eyes and his posture. He was ready. He was going to march out into that corridor and do what was right.

Just on cue, the bell rang. He sighed but with dignity, not defeat. He wouldn't be defeated. Quinn's last class would have been History so she was due to be around that corner and at her locker in very few moments. After one nod of confirmation, Sam never looked back. He headed straight out of the bathrooms and into the hallway, immediately finding Quinn's locker as he used to do every day.

But never had even his worst nightmares prepared him for what he saw next.

There was Quinn, at her locker. That wasn't what took his breath away. No, not that. It was the fact that she was making out with Finn. He blinked. Was this true, or was it really just a nightmare? Perhaps he was hallucinating from all the alcohol intake. Bodies were pushing and moving around him but all he could see was his angel with someone else. But she wasn't his angel anymore. Now, she was Finn's.

Deep down though, Sam knew what he was seeing was truth. He heard her laughter, as angelic and beautiful as it had ever been. There was no way this was a nightmare. It was one hundred per cent real.

With a gulp, Sam nodded and accepted the defeat that he had just a few seconds ago convinced himself wouldn't occur. He blinked back the tears. He was a big boy and he wasn't going to cry. His biggest weakness had slapped him right in the face. All the dreams and hopes he'd had of one day making Quinn his happy wife drifted away. At least if he walked away now, he could pretend that no one saw and pretend that his world hadn't just been shattered.

**DUN DUN DUN! And the plot thickens… haha! I'm so sorry! If you didn't hate me in the last chapter, I'm pretty sure you hate me now :P and probably Quinn and Finn! But as I say, I will find a way to fix it. Promise! Feedback for the next update please? :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yes, well… as I can tell from the reviews a lot of you **_**did**_** hate me after that last chapter but things are improving for my Glee OTP in this chapter! Or are they… Dun dun dun! Haha, you can decide for yourselves. I decided to update a little faster this time because I left myself in suspense after that last one! Enjoy.**

For the first time in weeks, Quinn smiled at her reflection.

It wasn't that she was particularly pleased with what she saw but more to do with the fact that she liked watching herself smile. She liked it when people saw her smile and even more so she got a sick thrill from smiling when other people weren't.

There was something about being cruel that got Quinn all excited. She enjoyed it although she knew she shouldn't have. After everything she'd experienced, every mistake made she knew deep down that she shouldn't have given in to the shadow of her former self but it was already taking over her. It was too late to do anything now.

After spending a lot of time on her hair and makeup and then choosing her outfit (something which she hadn't done in a while) she flung together her bag and practically skipped out the door to school. Today was the day and she knew it. She was going to make Rachel Berry realise that life wasn't so easy after all.

* * *

Sam was confused.

No, wait. He was more than just confused - he was mortified. It wasn't the fact that Quinn had gotten back with Finn because honestly, he was expecting that to happen after he'd broken up with her anyway before last Saturday, but it was just the timing of it all.

How could he have been so unlucky? Just as he had prepared himself to make everything right, another spanner had been thrown in the works. Sam knew there was not much he could do about it now. Not only did he want to embarrass himself but now he was scared to tell her the truth. She would probably think he was a psycho or a creep and scream at him to never touch her again.

Plus, he was starting to get bored of Santana. Sure, she was easy and she was also kind of hot from a guy's perspective too but Sam had realised that when a guy is truly in love, he doesn't care about vanity. The only thing that was beautiful was Quinn and that hurt him so much. He couldn't imagine how broken she must've have felt after he'd embarrassed her that way and broken up with her just like that. He felt horrid.

He'd considered singing about it because Mr. Schue had told all the Glee kids that singing was a good way to channel your feelings but he just couldn't seem to find a song with just the right amount of intensity without being too cheesy.

So, as he sat in Glee with Santana fiddling with parts of his body that he felt uncomfortable with in public, he stared at the door just waiting for her. He waited for her to walk in, holding hands with Finn and looking miserable. But that was exactly the problem.

When Quinn did walk in, she was smiling, laughing. And that's what hurt him the most. That she seemed happier than she had been with him. It hurt him so, so much.

Quinn spared him the slightest glance as she approached the seats. Sam's heart stopped. He gave her one of those 'deer-lost-in-headlights' faces as he tried to sum up a good reaction but his ex girlfriend barely even noticed him because just as soon as she'd looked at him, her gaze had already strayed to Rachel who was sitting in the back of the room by herself.

Sam's heart sunk. How was he feeling all this pain yet she was clearly not even thinking of him? Was this how she must've felt that dreadful day in the hallway? If so, it was awful. He felt sick just thinking about her hurting.

Mr. Schuester entered the room and began briefing the group on some of his plans for New York and how they could spice up their performance but before he could even pull out a set list he'd put together, Finn was raising his voice.

"Uhm, Mr. Schue? I have a song to sing. Would you mind?"

As usual, Mr. Schue encouraged this and nodded, inviting Finn up to the front who looked as excited as a little kid on Christmas morning.

_Oh no,_ Sam thought to himself. Strangely, he felt his cheeks burning. _This cannot be good._

"Now, as some of you may or may not know," Finn began, "me and Quinn are romantically involved again and she's now become my muse."

Quinn smirked. 'My muse'. She liked that. Then, she looked over at Rachel. Her eyes were filled with horror and disbelief. _Check and mate, Berry._

Sam forgot to breathe. He remembered just a few weeks ago, saying the very same thing in different words before he broke out into a performance of 'Baby'. Could time really change so many things so fast? This was beginning to feel more and more like a nightmare.

"Okay…" Mr. Schue murmured, just as confused as the rest as the room, "well, I'm supposing this means that you're going to sing a song about her?"

Finn nodded immediately. "I've been thinking and you're right, Mr. Schue. It makes me feel better when I sing about the way I feel… and I think this is something I definitely want to sing about."

Although Mr. Schue still remained stunned, he had to agree that it was a good idea for Finn to sing of his feelings, so he allowed him to and stepped aside.

Just as soon as he had, Finn began singing 'Happy' by Nevershoutnever. Quinn plastered a smile on her face all the way through as she received awkward glances from the rest of the group. That was except for Sam, but refused to turn around and look at her.

"_I'm happy knowing that you are mine. The grass is greener on the other side."_

Sam felt physically ill. He was still sure that Quinn was the best thing that had happened to him since joining this school. How could she be someone else's now?

"_The more I think the more I wish that we could lie here for hours and just'a reminisce."_

The lyrics were cute but they were nothing more than that, Quinn realised. They gave her butterflies and she felt pleased but that wasn't because she liked Finn. It was because she liked getting what she wanted and although she may have been using Finn, it was all for good cause.

"Whatever," Santana scoffed as Finn finished up, "I think she's just an attention seeking whore."

Gasps and murmurs broke out among the group and Quinn shot up straight from her chair. "Oh, you're one to talk, sandbags!"

"Yeah, actually, I _am_! But at least I admit to it!" Santana sniped, rising from her own chair. Sam shuffled away from her uncomfortably, "You just sit at the back and allow everyone to believe that you're so innocent when you're still the same knocked up slut you were a few months ago!"

"Hey!" Mr. Schuester yelled furiously, "Sit down! _Both_ of you!"

Despite his sternness, both of the girls completely ignored him. "That is not true! I'll admit that I'm a bitch, sure, but I'm _no_ whore. That's _your _job!" Quinn shrieked as she stormed out into the front of the room.

"I'm afraid I'll have to agree with Santana on this one." Rachel soon made her way in the 'conversation' as arrogant as ever. If there was a brawl when she was around, you could almost guarantee that she would soon be involved.

"Hell no! Quinn's right - Santana's a _bitch_!" Mercedes soon joined in.

Soon enough the whole room was arguing, apart from Sam who just sat back and watched it happen.

"Finn!" Quinn shrieked, "Defend your girlfriend! Right now!"

Finn shot up from his seat. "Uh… I'm…-" he stuttered uncontrollably as the room fell silent.

"Quinn's right." the words came out of nowhere and Sam hadn't expected them but they were out there and now the whole room seemed ten times more awkward.

"_What_?" Santana spat furiously, an incredulous look spreading across her face.

Sam shrugged it off. Now was the time. He didn't have feelings for Santana, nor did she had feelings for him. They were just toys to each other. "Quinn's right. You're a whore, not her." The way he said the words were so simple and blunt that it made the initial shock even worse. He was nonplussed, his eyes fathomless. He really meant it.

Quinn was unsure of how to react to this. At first, she was glad that there was another person on her defence line but then she wasn't so sure. There was something about Sam's sudden intrusion in the argument that made it seem eerily odd.

"If I'm such a whore then why are we even together?" Santana screamed as the rest of the room watched in suspense.

Sam laughed humourlessly as he stood up. "But that's the thing - we're not. It ends right here, Santana."

The rest of the guys shared awkward glances and watched with their lips slightly parted as Santana burst into tears and stormed out of the room but Sam and Quinn's gazes remained locked. There was so much that he wanted to say and make up for but Sam couldn't do it. This was too much. He needed air.

He nodded once at his ex girlfriend before slowly exiting the room with his eyebrows knitted together tightly. He realised that he was wasting his time but he wanted Quinn to know that he was free. And he would be waiting for her when she was too.

* * *

"But why would he defend you if he didn't have feelings for you?" Finn pondered as he followed Quinn down the hallway. This was probably the millionth time he'd questioned this and Quinn was beginning to get sick of it. No, wait. She was _beginning_ to get sick of it after 'why else would he break it off with Santana?'. Now she was pulling her hair out. She had forgotten how annoying he could actually be.

"Can you stop asking questions, Finn? I don't know, okay? Maybe it was just an opportunity for him to break up with Santana or maybe I was just right? Does that not occur to you as an option?" She yelled as she approached her locker.

"Well… no. Maybe. I don't know! But it just seemed pretty suspicious to me." Finn murmured as he fiddled with his fingers.

Quinn sighed, releasing all her anger. "You don't have to worry about anything, Finn…" she almost smiled as she slotted her books into her locker and shot him a dreamy gaze. "It's you that I want. Not him."

Finn produced a grin. "Okay…" he chuckled, his cheeks flushing red.

"Ah, shit…" Quinn cursed, "I've left my Chemistry book in the choir room. I'll just go and get it, okay? You can head over to my house already and I'll meet you there. My parents are in, so you should be okay. I won't be long."

Finn nodded. "Okay. But are you sure? Is your mom… _okay_ with me?"

Quinn smiled and rolled her eyes. "I told her the baby wasn't yours. She won't ask, anyway. She doesn't care anymore…"

Finn said no more. He just nodded and kissed his girlfriend on the cheek before they headed off in opposite directions.

* * *

As Quinn approached the choir room, she could hear voices sounding from inside. Puck and… someone else? As she got close enough to look through the tiny window of the door, she realised that it was Sam. She didn't want to face either of them in all honesty, so she stepped aside and listened attentively.

"Dude, I swear I didn't take it! You're crazy!" Puck yelled. He was livid.

"Come on, man, I know you took! Who else would? I need the money in there, seriously! My mom will kill me if I don't get it back." said Sam.

Puck scoffed. "I don't know, but I know that it wasn't me! Did you ever think that maybe you might have just lost it or something?"

Quinn's heart stopped and her breath hitched. They couldn't be talking about…? Oh, no. Gosh, they couldn't be.

"If you think you're cool, you're not, Puck! I really need my wallet back."

A tear escaped the surface of Quinn's eyes. No, it couldn't be true, could it? It couldn't be _the_ wallet. But it had to be, didn't it? There was no doubt in Quinn's mind. Maybe she had gotten it all wrong. Her mind could no longer process the conversation occurring on the other side of the wall but only her own naivety.

"How could I have been so stupid…?" she whispered to herself as she slid down the wall in attempt to kill the growing pain in her stomach.

It was time to face the facts though. Maybe she had liked seeing the return of her former self but she would get no where without honesty. In fact, dishonesty was the very thing that had caused her downfall in the first place and she was not ready to pay that price again.

She hid in the shadows until she was certain that Puck had left. He may have been nothing but a part of her past to her anymore, but he still got to her. Then, she crept to the door and placed her hand on the cool gold doorknob.

"Time for honesty…" she whispered to herself as she sucked up with tears and entered the room.

Sam was caught off guard. He looked up from where he was collecting his books after hearing the sound of Quinn shuffling into the room. She pulled the ends of her cardigan past her hands and began to play with the material which was soft to her touch. Maybe that would give her some comfort.

"Quinn? I-"

Sam couldn't finish because Quinn had already started. "Did you say something about a wallet?" she asked as silent tears fell down her face.

**Well, what do you think? :D Any ways that I can improve? I want a good bit of feedback before I update again, if you wouldn't mind, because I feel like this story is drawing to an end. There will be a few more chapters and possibly an epilogue though! But yes, feedback would be nice! Thank you for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ahh the amazing reviews never stop! Thank you so much, it's really good to know that you all seem to like the story especially since I wasn't very confident in it to begin with :D I also want to say that I owe my best friend a lot for the next few chapters there's going to be as she inspired me and gave me some what I think are brilliant ideas! Hope you enjoy this update! Oh and WARNING: this chapter is very, very sexual. ;)**

Sam didn't know what to do.

His first instincts were to rush up to Quinn, take her in a warm embrace, stroke her hair and whisper soothing words into her ear, telling her that he was sorry and he took back all he said before even though he'd no idea why she was crying.

But he couldn't do that. Not after everything had happened. Not after everything they'd been through. She'd probably push him away from her and tell him not to touch her because he was a 'pig' who caused nothing but heartbreak.

It was no doubt that she was in pieces though. Sam could see how her body was rocking as she desperately tried to keep herself together and failing horribly. Her cheeks were flustered and he eyes were tired, fed up. She'd been strong for so long and now she was finally cracking and Sam had realised that the instance he'd seen her tears.

And of course he blamed himself.

How could he not? After everything he'd put her through… sure, she'd cheated on him but he didn't even give her a chance to talk about it to sort out their problems. Neither of them weren't quite sure why she'd done it.

"I-I… I'm sorry, I just-…" Quinn could barely breathe. How had she been so blind? Finn. He hadn't even been drinking! And although she didn't have feelings for him like that any more, she was pretty sure he wouldn't have taken advantage of her like that.

She realised her mistakes and all the people she'd hurt. What was she thinking? Becoming her former self again, that self that she had solemnly promised herself she would never become. It sickened her, the thought of the way she'd tried to hurt Rachel, used Finn… the bad deeds never stopped.

Sam couldn't take it no longer. He approached her and pulled her close, not caring for the consequences. She could kick and scream all she wanted but he wouldn't let go.

Except she didn't rebel at all. In fact, she freely fell into his arms and enjoyed the smell of him again, those familiar arms wrapped around her fragile body. Everything felt right again.

"What about a wallet? I don't understand…" Sam whispered as he inhaled the smell of her hair. She always used the same shampoo and conditioner. He remembered that from when they had dated.

Quinn made a sound in the back of her throat that sounded like some sort of distorted choke, her tears still free falling fast. "Did you lose your wallet at Rachel's party?" she finally managed to ask, leaving a stain of salty tears on Sam's T-shirt.

Sam knitted his eyebrows together. "Y-Yes… I think Puck stole it or something. Why is that such a… big deal?" he was confused.

The blonde girl in his arms continued to sniffle and jerk uncontrollably as she sobbed. "I have your wallet… but if there anything y-you want to tell me?" she pressed, finally regaining her composure and wiping away her tears as she took a few steps backwards. She needed to distance herself from what she was about to hear.

Sam looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to elaborate.

"About what happened the night of Rachel's party."

The air was sucked out of him completely, like he had been forced inside a vacuum. She couldn't be talking about _that_… could she? His reaction gave it all away.

"I knew it!" Quinn shrieked, suddenly becoming absolutely furious. "You're such a liar! No wait, you're _worse_ than that - you're pathetic, Sam Evans! Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sam ushered her close, grabbing her hands to stop her squirming, "Hold on a second, okay? I want to be able to tell you properly."

Quinn scoffed, struggling out of his grip again. "You had the chance to tell me properly all week, Sam! Why should I let you explain now, after all you've done?"

Sam sighed and clasped Quinn by her shoulders. She tried to escape at first but then she caught a glimpse of seriousness in his eyes and she was hypnotised, like she was under a trance. His gaze caught her by surprise but nothing could prepare her for the words she was about to hear.

"Because I still love you, Quinn Fabray. And I know that you still love me too."

Quinn could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears as if it was about to burst out of her chest. She could feel her cheeks heating up yet she couldn't escape his gaze.

Sam couldn't control himself any further. He made no hesitation before he crushed their lips together and she didn't protest. She freely kissed him back, her eyes brimming with tears once again.

They kissed like that for a while, deeply enjoying the pleasure of their lips against one another until Quinn finally broke away for air. Nevertheless, their foreheads remained pressed together, their eyes closed.

"All this time…" Quinn whispered, "I thought it was Finn. I saw the hickey's in the morning… they were huge. Then I saw the wallet under the bed. I knew that it was no coincidence. I never checked the wallet though because I was scared… I-I was scared that…-"

"Scared of what, Quinn?" Sam pleaded for her answer, holding her tighter than he ever head, terrified that she might move an inch away from him. He needed to be close to her and feel that she was there, just so he could be sure that this wasn't a dream.

A tear escaped her eye. He opened his eyes and saw it, wiping it away with thumb as he caressed her cheek.

"I was scared that someone might break my heart again." she choked, falling onto his lips again. This time, their kissing was softer and not as wild but it still contained the same amount of passion as the one before.

Soon enough, the kissing grew into more. They were touching each other and Sam forced the girl back, pushing her against the wall. He dared to touch her thigh, pushing the hem of her dress upwards and feeling her skin real against his.

Quinn knew in the back of her mind that if anything happened here, it would have great consequences and she had the feeling that there was something that she was forgetting but that all disappeared the moment she slid her hands underneath Sam's T-shirt and felt his well-defined abs beneath her dainty, feminine fingers.

As they kissed and touched erotically, memories came flooding back to them of that drunken night. It was as if they were on some kind of drug. Their teenage hormones were kicking in and the moment that Sam grabbed Quinn's hand and led her to the janitors closet half way down the hall that there was no turning back from that point on.

Quinn didn't protest. She followed him with free will. It was refreshing to know that this time she was doing something consciously instead of being absolutely blitzed although it was awful wrong.

Sam shirt came off the moment they crashed into the closet. Damn it was a good thing that all the students had gone home by now. Quinn bit and licked at the parts of him that she knew were sensitive, teasing him with her fingers and lips and causing him to groan with bliss and desire.

His pants soon followed as they rushed to pull the zipper down. He kicked them off quickly and pulled Quinn close to him again, then lifting her dress over her head and examining her perfect curves. He touched her skin in the parts were he had left throbbing purple marks, careful not to hurt her.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered as he nibbled on her ear. Quinn fluttered her eye lashes and tensed her forehead. She left out a heavy breath as he teased her, rubbing the small of her back and pushing their private areas closer and closer together.

Finally, she caved in, falling to her knees and kissing his bare chest on her way down. She didn't hesitate until she'd yanked down his boxer shorts.

Sam moaned and groaned in ways that he never had before. He'd never been so turned on in his life but at the same time he'd never felt so emotional. He had constantly day dreamed about the words he would say to Quinn when he finally came to his senses, yet they all fell out of his mouth in a jumble as he felt his skin going hard. Every breath he took was a challenge.

Quinn finished off, breathing heavily. She'd never done anything like that before. This was only the third time she had ever had sex in her life and she couldn't remember much from the first two anyway. She was still learning the ropes but with Sam, she felt like she knew everything.

They tried to be careful and quiet as they had janitor-closet-sex but it was quite challenging for both of them when they wanted each other so much. Of course, they used protection. Ever since dating Santana, Sam had always carried a condom around with him because you never knew where or when it could happen with that girl. She was constantly sex-driven.

Once it was all said and done with, they lay on the floor together with all the scattered pieces of equipment around them whilst they breathed heavily. They couldn't deprive their lungs of air no longer and that's the only reason they had given up.

"Was she better than me?" Quinn finally managed to breathe.

It took Sam a few moments before he could gather up enough breath to reply. "What do you mean?" the words came out fast, as if he was trying to get them out in one gasp of air.

"Santana…" Quinn whispered, closing her eyes as she nuzzled into the crook of his neck. "Was she better than me at this?"

"No." Sam didn't even hesitate, "Know why?"

Quinn held his face in her hands as she sucked on his jaw line. "Why?" she murmured into his skin.

"Because I never loved her. I love you, Quinn Fabray. Even through every flaw and imperfection you have, I still love you," he announced. It was the loudest thing he had said since they had fallen into the closet, "And there's nothing anyone or anything can do to make me stop loving you."

Quinn sobbed into his chest. She'd never felt so wanted in her entire life. "And I love you too, Sam Evans," she cried, "and nothing and no one will ever change the way _I_ feel about _you_."

**TADA! I told you I'd fix it, didn't I? Well, there is more so please don't tune out just yet! Tell me what you think too, please. I have a few tricks up my sleeve for the next few chapters and I'm thinking about pulling Rachel and another character whose name I will not tell you into it much more ;) Thank you so much for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello again! I hope you'll be glad to know that I'm really in the mood for writing right now because I went to see my favourite band (The Script) last night and I've been listening to their songs none stop ever since! Their songs are just… :D They've given me loads of inspiration :P Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Quinn sighed. This was the third time she'd cheated in her life. The first two times, she's felt goddamn awful. Now, she felt a sense of accomplishment. She felt relieved, as if everything that had been on her back for the past few weeks had just flew over her head.

And for that, she felt dirty. Not because she regretted doing anything with Sam but because she was bound to hurt Finn again. She didn't have feelings for him but she appreciated the fact that he was willing to take her back after all the heartache she'd put him through. She'd completely disrespected the second chance that he'd given her.

Yet she felt good and she was disgraced by herself for that.

Her and Sam sat cross-legged and face-to-face from one another one the floor of the janitors closet. They'd dressed in silence and they didn't need to speak - they only needed to make eye contact with each other to know that a talk was necessary.

"So…" Sam murmured as he drew circles on the dusty floor with his fingertips, "what do we do now?"

Quinn sighed. What did she do now? She was completely and utterly lost. "I don't know. This was your fault as well, not mine."

"Who said it was a fault?"

Quinn instinctively shot her gaze straight into Sam's eyes as his words had taken her aback a little. When she looked up, she found that Sam had also raised his attention to her eyes. They couldn't look away from one another.

After a few moments of silence, Quinn averted her gaze. "Look, Sam," she sighed again, "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life as you can clearly tell from my past and I want to make sure that you're not one of them. So I think we should begin… well, at the beginning."

"I don't want you to be a mistake either," Sam agreed, "but what do you mean?"

"Well, I mean… what do you remember from _that_ night? Because I clearly do not have a clue in hell what went on."

Sam coughed awkwardly, averting his eyes from Quinn, "Well… I don't remember that much. Just booze. Then that game of spin the bottle… then more booze."

"Right," Quinn nodded, trying to piece together the situation in her head, "anything after that?"

Sam thought for a while then shook his head. "Nope, sorry. Your best bet is probably to ask Rach- Rachel!" he exclaimed as realisation hit him, "Oh my God…"

"What? What about Rachel, Sam?"

Sam stared straight ahead, his mouth slightly agape. "I threatened her."

Quinn stayed silent for a moment. "What do you mean you threatened her?"

"Well… she woke me up the morning after. You stayed asleep but her screams kind of freak my out so I guess I'm not used to them and then she started throwing clothes at me and calling me crazy and I-"

"Sam!" an agitated Quinn cried, "Stop. Babbling."

"O-Oh… okay." Sam stammered nervously before clearing his throat, "Well, before I left I told her that if she doesn't keep quiet about this then there would be consequences…" he admitted, "I mean, I didn't really know what consequences I was talking about because to be honest I've never really… threatened anyone before."

Quinn laughed humourlessly as she processed the information. "You would go as far as threatening Rachel Berry to keep me from knowing about this?"

"N-No! I mean, not like that anyway. I just didn't want to… I didn't want to hurt you, okay? I was scared that if I did tell you then you would think I was a psycho and would never allow me to be within 50 yards of you again." Sam stuttered.

Quinn's eyes instantly transformed from defensive and suspicious to warm and accepting. "Sam…" she whispered with a smile as she scooted closer to him until she was kneeling in front of him, "I would never _ever_ want that." she planted a soft kiss on his lips, leaving Sam not only speechless but breathless.

They stayed like that for a few moments - kissing gently and staring deeply into each others eyes, simply enjoying each others company. But Quinn seemed less motivated as her face dropped and she looked anywhere but Sam.

"Hey," he whispered, taking his hands. Quinn stared at their fingers intertwined as Sam spoke his words softly and comfortingly, "What's wrong?"

"It's just…" she breathed nervously, "I've hurt so many people in my past, including you. I've hurt Finn, I've hurt Rachel, I've hurt Puck and… god forbid she ever knows I'll admit to this, but I've even hurt Santana."

"But that's the thing," Sam testified, tilting her chin until she was looking deep into his eyes, "that was is the past and I want to be in your future. I don't care who you were or what you did - just as long as it's over now and we can be together."

Sam's words were so reassuring and gentle that Quinn almost believed them and she would've believed them if she could have too. She wished that she could put her past behind her and start a fresh page, turn a new leaf or whatever they said. But she couldn't because this was the real world. Not that soap opera that her mom cried to weekly, not and idealistic movie script or a music video to a chipper song - her life. The _real_ world.

"I want to believe that," she reiterated her thoughts, averting her gaze again, "but I can't because it's not true Sam. I'm still the same bitch I was back then if I do this. And I can't. I just need everything to be normal or at least pre-Beth for a while because my world has been kind of upside down as you've probably gathered."

She began to rise and depart but Sam pulled her back down by her wrists, crashing their lips together. "But if you go pre-Beth then that means you go without me," he whispered as he pressed their foreheads together.

Quinn swallowed a lump at the back of her throat. A knot tied in her stomach making her feel sea sick and she bit her lip so hard that she could've sworn she tasted blood. "I just can't go back to Finn and tell him that's it's over, Sam…" she sobbed, "not after everything I've put him through."

She kissed him once more. Then after a few moments taken to gather her self, she rose from her kneeling position in front of the boy and reached for her school bag which had been slung to the corner of the room in all the chaos. "I am so sorry, Sam…" she whispered as she faced the door with tears strolling down her face.

Just as she lay her hand on the door knob, Sam spoke up. "Wait," he called with urgency in his voice as all the chances he ever had with Quinn lingered right in from of him, threatening to diminish, "you've already cheated. Why can't you do it again?"

"Sam," Quinn spat venomously, "how could you suggest such a thing?"

She didn't look at him but Sam knew from her voice that fire would be burning in her eyes right now. "I'm not suggesting anything, Quinn," he laughed humourlessly, "I'm asking."

Quinn froze completely, her feet glued to the floor. Her mind spun for a moment and she allowed herself to be dizzy before glancing over her shoulder. Her posture was strong and defiant but her eyes were weak with need. "I love you, Sam," she whispered as she closed her eyes, tears seeping from beneath the lids, "so please don't take advantage of that."

"I'm not trying to take advantage of you, Quinn," he spoke louder now, finally rising from his seated position on the floor, "but I know you need me as much as I need you. Finn would never have to know. We could just sneak about, then when the time's right you can just break up with him and pretend that we were never-"

"Sam!" Quinn cried loudly, silencing Sam. A pregnant silence fell between them as thought and consideration spread through her expression.

Sam could hear his heart beating in his ears and he tried to prepare himself for disappointment but there was a part of him that almost knew what Quinn was about to say next, like he could read her mind.

"I'll think about it…" she murmured almost inaudibly before giving him a dismissive nod of the head and turning out the door.

Sam almost screamed with joy once he was sure she was gone. He bounced around the room excitedly, mumbling to himself happily. "No one will ever have to know." he whispered repetitively.

Quinn escaped the school as quickly as possible, feeling as if it's walls knew a secret that no one else should I ever know - no one accept her and Sam. Her phone bleeped inside her bag and she instinctively reached for it, praying that it would take her mind off all these actions and their consequences.

After realising she'd received a text message from Finn, her heart fell into her stomach. She felt so awful that she'd forgotten all about him. If only he knew what she'd been doing…

'Hey Q. Y r u so late? - F x'

She sighed nervously before replying, her fingers shaking and sweating uncontrollably. Lying was a sin she was never going to be able to live down.

'Hey, sorry. Was held back by English teacher. See u at home - Q x'

"No one will ever have to know." she whispered to herself repetitively as she took a journey home that seemed to last for centuries.

* * *

Sam arrived at school that Monday morning with a guilty conscience. Him asking her to have a secret relationship was a crime in itself, never mind if he actually carried it out.

Finn was his friend but Quinn was his love. If he was ever asked to choose between them, there was no doubt that Quinn's name would push to the front of his mind automatically but the consequences of this sin were so heavy that it may have made him rethink his actions if he didn't care about her so much.

If this ever got out it could also cause chaos in the Glee club as well so he vowed to himself not to tell a soul. Not that he had anyone to tell but if it ever came up, just in case. These words were never going to escape his lips.

He glanced over at Quinn's locker nervously. He'd been doing it in between every period, hoping that she would be there and for the first time since Home Room, she was there.

She looked so picturesque as she collected her books from her locker, checking her makeup in the small mirror that hung on the door and smiling at the photographs of passed memories. She looked so beautiful that Sam may have even stared at her all afternoon if a nearby locker door slamming would not have woken him out of his trance.

Cautiously, he checked from left to right to see who was about. He then decided no one was about who was dangerous. He approached Quinn, trying to look nonplussed when really his heart was beating hard.

"You made up your mind yet?" he whispered as he leaned against the cool metal, watching people pass them by in the hallway.

Quinn's flinched as she reapplied her lip gloss. She hadn't even seen him coming. She exhaled, fluttering her eyelids and slamming her locker door shut.

"Yes." she murmured as she locked it.

Sam waited for her to elaborate but she didn't. "And…?" he pushed her with desperation in his voice. This was so wrong that it almost made him feel right.

"You'll come to my house on Friday at eight. My mom's out all weekend, staying with family in New Jersey. _Don't_ be late." Without another glance, she stormed off as radiant as ever.

Sam had to wait until she was completely out of eye-shot to punch his fist in the air just before the bell for fourth period rang.

**WELL, what do you think? I know, I'm making Sam and Quinn into complete rebels. Their horrible people right now but they love each other so much so it's okay :D I've also been thinking about this Rachel/Someone thing and its not really working out for me so I'm afraid I'll have to cut that :[ There was too many flaws in the story, sorry! But I am thinking about bringing another major character into this, just not romantically so. And I'll try and get Rachel more involved ;) Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**It's me again! I just want to say that I'm really, really happy with all the reviews you guys have been posting! Thank very much :D Okay, now I'll get on with the story :P**

Sam had never been in one of these shops before. The moment he'd stepped through those automatic doors, he was certain it had been a horrible idea yet he couldn't seem to pull himself away. He was already strangely nervous to see Quinn tonight but this just magnified it.

Staring at sex gadgets and toys made him sweat in uncomfortable parts of his body. Some of them were bizarre, others probably illegal and the rest he just couldn't even begin to imagine how to use.

He tried to walk around like he had a clue what he was doing but really he just looked like a little kid that lost their mom at the supermarket. In fact, he was pretty sure that any time soon he was going to get kicked out by one of the staff for being underage.

And that was fine with him. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to buy too much anyway, just enough to make it seem like he'd made an effort. He could have continued to stroll around the shop aimlessly at that. That was, until he saw ladies man Noah Puckerman directly in front of him.

Sam's initial reaction was to try and escape like he'd never seen him but the moment that he laid his eyes on his fellow classmate, he was certain he'd been spotted. And of course, it was no question why a guy like Puck would be caught in a sex shop but he might have some inquiries as to why Sam was there.

The jock approached Sam with a wide grin spreading across his face and the blonde began to curse under his breath. If anyone found out about this, he would've revealed the secret before it was even put into action. He had to think of a cover story, and fast.

"Evans. What are you doing here, man?" Puck chuckled as he patted his team mate on the back.

Sam desperately tried not to stutter. "Well, I was just… looking. You know, experimenting." he cleared his throat and tried to throw a convincing grin.

Thankfully, Noah didn't seem to notice Sam's discomfort with the situation. "Really? Because I thought since you and Santana broke up…-"

"Oh, I- er, no. I mean," _be cool, Sam!, _he told himself, "I wasn't actually going to buy anything, I just wanted to see. What about you?" _Nice one._

Puck laughed as if it were the silliest question he'd ever heard. "Me? Dude, this place is like a second home to me. It's my inspiration."

Sam plastered a grin on his face as Puck began to lead him along the isle and point to various objects which he'd used in his past.

"I used this on Taylor Roberts, Sophomore year." he grinned, picking up an unfamiliar object from the shelf. "Oh, and this one particularly pleased Helen Rowling when we were freshman. She was… fun."

Sam tried to pretend like he wasn't having a nervous breakdown while his heart beat reached a scary rate.

"Oh and these babies!" he exclaimed with excitement as they shuffled along the aisle, "Quinn Fabray _definitely_ enjoyed these that one time." he mused, raising his eyebrows multiple times at Sam in amusement.

Sam almost choked on his own breath as he watched Noah trace his fingers up and down the lines of a pair of fluffy, pink handcuffs.

"I don't suppose you two ever…?-" Noah asked quietly.

"Oh, no. Oh, God no. I mean… she's like…" he murmured nervously, "the Virgin Mary herself. I don't think she's even thought about it since… well, you know…"

Puck nodded. "Oh, yeah. Totally… well, she was fun. I actually kind of liked her, you know? She was… _different._"

The quarter back shifted uncomfortably as he tried knock images out of his head of Puck and Quinn _doing it_. He had a point though - Quinn certainly _was_ different. She was special.

"I'm sure she was…" he murmured quietly.

"What was that?" Puck asked as he raised his attention from the shelves.

The blonde shook his head immediately. "Nothing."

"Oh, okay." Puck sighed, "Well, listen. I got a hot date and I really need to go. But I'll see you Monday, man. And if you ever get your hands on Quinn again, you can thank me for the heads up later!"

Sam knew he was joking but there was some kind of dark irony in his words that scared Sam to pieces. "N-Not going to happen!" he yelped as he watched Noah disappear around the corner. He let out a sigh of relief when was he was gone, checking his forehead for sweat. That was super close.

After regaining his cool composure, he glanced over at the handcuffs once again. It wasn't a bad idea. If Puck thought so… but then again, he was pretty sure he'd used some sort of fake ID in order to buy all this stuff. And Sam looked ten times younger. He'd never get away with a pair of them.

He couldn't resist thought. Lima was a small town therefore not many people shopped in places like these and there was very few security cameras. He managed to tuck the handcuffs under his belt without anyone seeing. He escaped the shop quickly, making it look as if he were never there.

_Wow, Sam,_ he thought to himself as he turned the corner and released his breath, _adultery _and_ stealing - you're taking down all the 10 commandments on a roll.

* * *

_

Nothing made Quinn happier than feeling at home and as she was coming to terms with her relationship to Sam, she was feeling more and more like that every hour.

She'd spent hours tidying her room that morning, taking a long shower so that she could deep condition her hair and deciding what perfume to wear. She'd dressed herself in a vintage white dress with a low neckline and thin straps which ended just above her knees. _There,_ she thought as she admired her reflection in the mirror, _perfectly classy with a touch of slut._

Exhaling happily, she examined the stack of DVDs that she had prepared for her and Sam to watch. Then, she'd set up the sofa with several cushions and soft blankets for them to sit on with the television in a comfortable position in front of them. On the coffee table sat snacks and drinks for them. She hoped that Sam would appreciate her effort.

The hours ticked by slowly until the doorbell rang. "This is it," she whispered to herself as she made her way to the door, "no turning back now, Quinn."

She hesitated with her hand on the door knob. Her conscience questioned her one last time, asking her if she was certain this was a good idea. Finally, she gave in to her insane desire to be with Sam no matter the deceiving involved and dragged the door open.

Sam stood in front of her in all his glory. He wore a plaid T-shirt and jeans, the way he always did, with his hair messily styled. He shot her a smouldering look that almost made her melt at the sight of him as his green eyes pierced into her soul.

Before she could open her mouth to even breathe, Sam had crashed their lips together in a hot, passionate kiss. He threw his bag across the room and forced himself onto Quinn, kicking the door behind him as he fell into the house.

He violently slammed her up against the wall, pushing the skirt of his dress upwards and reaching for her private areas.

"Sam," she giggled breathlessly, struggling to suppress her moans and groans as Sam pleased her, "you don't waste any time, do you?"

Sam slobbered over her between their wet kissing. "I've just been craving for you." he groaned in anticipation, anxious to touch and feel her skin beneath his, "I can't stop thinking about you."

It took all of Quinn's will power to pull herself away from Sam's fingers and lips, easing herself out of his grasp slowly so that she didn't miss it too much. "Yes, well you'll _have_ to wait, I'm afraid." she chuckled, strolling down the hallway and into the kitchen.

Sam didn't know whether to be confused or shocked or angry. "Why?" he whined as he followed her around the house, kicking his shoes off and feeling the soft, plush red carpet beneath his feet.

"Because," Quinn mimicked his tone as she pushed herself up onto the kitchen counter, "I'm hungry and that's more important than any other feeling in the world."

"Really?" Sam scoffed as he made his way over to the girl at the kitchen counter. He slipped himself in between his legs, placing his hands ion her thighs and massaging them suggestively, "And do you want to bet on that?"

Quinn bit her lip, holding back a large groan as she fell weak under his soft touch. "No… not really…" she mused, pushing his lemon-juiced hair back with her hand. She placed lingering kiss on his lips and then wrapped her legs around the back of him, pulling him closer than he was before. "But I'd like to experiment."

It took Sam a few moments to realise what she was implying. He grinned, imagining all the kinky things they could get up to but his dreams disappeared within seconds as she pushed him away playfully. He pretended to smile like he thought it was funny but really he just wanted to get closer to her.

She turned around on the counter and folded her legs beneath her so that she was facing the high cupboard. "Hm, let me see…" she mused as she searched the labels or tins and jars. "How about some good old chocolate? Everyone likes chocolate."

Sam coughed as he tried to sum up how to phrase his response. "Yeah, sure. Have you go any of that, uh… _spreadable_ kind?"

Quinn froze instantly at his words, understanding his implication immediately. "Sam…" she whispered with a grin on her face after a pregnant pause, "you certainly can't wait, can you?"

Sam shook his head immediately. "I'm afraid not, ma'am." he grinned, mocking a deep southern accent.

After deciding that there was nothing in the cupboard that wasn't on the coffee table already that prickled her interest, she hopped down from the counter and grabbed Sam's hand. She lead him into the living room.

When she presented him to the well set out room, Sam had to try and mask his surprise. It seemed that Quinn had different interpretations on how she planned tonight to unfold. He plastered a grin on his face as he noticed the stack of DVDs beside the table. This certainly was not what he had been hoping for.

"I hope it's not too much…" Quinn muttered as she reached for the DVDs, "but I did try to get some of your favourite films - Avatar, Star Wars… you know, the usual."

At this, Sam was pleasantly surprised. If there was anyone in this world who knew how dorky he actually was, apart from his parents of course, it had to be Quinn. After all, she had been the one who had had to put up with his constant impressions over months and months of dating and she'd never complained once. She'd always laughed, nodded and smiled politely, cuddling close to him and telling him how she 'adored his geeky side'.

It had always been a different story when he was with Santana. Whenever he'd tried to be himself around her, she'd always chastised him for putting a bad name on her or warned him that someone might actually find out how bad of a dork he was. She'd always told him that the only reason his popularity was fairly stable was due to his position on the football team and his cuteness but other than that, it lay on a fragile line. And he'd always been afraid to break that line except from when he was around Quinn.

"Wow…" he mused as he flicked through the discs, "you remembered."

Quinn pursed her lips and nodded. "I mean, you spoke about them enough that it'd be crazy of me _not_ to remember." she joked, planting her hand on his arm and tenderly soothing his bicep. It sent shivers down Sam's spine.

"You know, Quinn," he sighed, looking deeply into her eyes, "whenever I look at Finn, I think of how wrong I am of doing this and how I should be ashamed of myself," he tilted her chin upwards so that their lips were level to one another, "but every time I'm around you, I completely forget all of those feelings.

He lay a soft kiss upon her lips which turned more and more passionate as it continued. Perhaps Sam actually was going to achieve his fantasy of sleeping with Quinn again tonight. He'd only done it twice and the first time he was drunk, so he wanted her even more than ever now. He needed to embrace the touch of her underneath him, the smell of skin and the sound of her voice, the way she touched him in all the right places. He just prayed that she wanted him as much as he did her.

"Sam," she whispered breathlessly once their kissing had broken apart, "I love you, okay? I need you to know that."

Sam laughed as he pressed the tip of his nose against hers playfully. "I love you too, Quinn… but I already knew that."

Quinn giggled, nodding. "I know! But I just like saying it when I know that you're mine."

Sam chuckled and kissed her again, this time letting his lips slither down to her jaw line and neck, leaving purple and red blotches as he nipped and bit at her skin.

"Ugh, Sam…" she moaned, pressing her cool hand against the back of his neck so that his teeth sunk further and further into his skin, "you don't know how much I want you right now."

Suddenly, Sam remembered the hand cuffs that he had stolen from the shop earlier that day. Of course, he never planned on telling Quinn that he'd actually _stolen_ them but he had taken them for a reason. He was just unsure on how to bring them out on her.

"W-… Sam, why have you stopped?" Quinn asked confusedly as she felt Sam dribble down her neck. She shuffled away uneasily with slight disgust.

"Oh! I-… sorry." he mumbled quietly, "but I've brought you something that I think you might like."

Quinn's eyes lit up again instantly, the green-brown colour almost glowing in the dim lighting of the room. "Really? Because you know how much I _love_ surprises…" she giggled, approaching him again and playing with the collar on his shirt.

"Hold on a second, I'll be back in a moment." Sam promised as he whisked off into the hallway and quickly searched through his bag.

He reappeared again in a few moments, carrying the handcuffs behind his back so that Quinn couldn't see them.

"Hey…" she whispered whilst trying to suppress a grin, "what have you got there?"

Sam shrugged, putting on a playful act of obliviousness. "I don't know what you're talking about, Ms. Fabray." he tried not to chuckle, "I don't have anything behind my back."

"Let me see!" Quinn cried impatiently, chasing his around the room. He didn't try to escape. In fact, as soon as she reached him, he pulled her in by the waist whilst making sure that she still didn't see the cuffs. He pushed her hair out of her face and groped at her skin.

"I was hoping you might enjoy these." he grinned, pulling the handcuffs out from behind her whilst still keeping one hand firmly on the small of her back.

To begin with, Quinn was taken aback by the item in Sam's hand and he could've sworn he saw her smile drop for a second but she regained her joy just as soon as it had left. "Wow…" she giggled, "you've went all out tonight, Mr. Evans."

**Hope you enjoyed that! I know it wasn't a majorly important update and I left you for a while over that but I've been quite busy lately :( But I'd like to take this quick opportunity to ask whether any of you guys are fans of The Vampire Diaries and if so would you be interested in reading a crossover between Stefan and Quinn? :D It's just that I've began writing one (of course Fabrevans will always be my OTP but there's nothing wrong with experimenting, right?) and I'd really like some feedback on it as I've never written a crossover before. I'd really appreciate it if you did! Anyway, thank you all once again for reading and reviewing - you're amazing!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello people! I just want to say before I upload this that I don't think that this is a very good update because I'm waiting to get to all the juicy stuff first. I just needed to use this chapter to introduce the whole prom queen/regionals/original songs into the plot. So don't slaughter me if it's a little boring please! Haha ;)**

Monday's were never a pleasure, especially if you attended McKinley High School.

Quinn had overslept this morning, thus meaning that she had not spent quite as much time as if she would've liked getting ready and doing her makeup. This was a problem, seeing as she had not exactly planned to have this many hickeys after the weekend but things had gotten slightly out of control. Sam had ended up staying not only on Friday but also on Saturday too. Quinn was just thankful that her mom hadn't arrived home until late Sunday afternoon and that she didn't see her enough to point out the mysterious bruises on her neck.

She'd overslept since most of her nights over the weekend did not include a lot of sleeping so she was a little rough today. She rushed into school unusually late and avoided the glares from other students, as she did every morning.

But there was something different about this Monday morning. It had finally began to dawn on Quinn that she and Sam were freely admitting their love to each other once again. Of course, there feelings had always remained the same whether they were together or apart but now they were able to show this affection to one another.

Although it included lying and deceiving, Quinn was still pretty happy about how things were pulling together - she would break it off with Finn in a few weeks, after Regionals, by telling him that it just wasn't the same anymore. Then, she would announce the rekindling of her and Sam's love once again to their friends. Finn would probably be with Rachel again by that time anyway. Sorted.

She fell through the door of home room, trying to not make too big a show of her arrival as she scrambled to her desks. A few months ago, Quinn would've enjoyed being the centre of attention. At a place like McKinley, something could be huge and then die off as the next big story broke out a few days later. Quinn liked the challenge of always fighting for the spotlight and she had done a damn good job at that even if she did say so herself.

Nowadays, things were different. She'd experienced her fair share of attention for all the wrong reasons and now she decided she wanted nothing to do with it but that's not to say she didn't want to go out with a bang - she wanted to be prom queen.

It's something that she had always aspired for since she was a young girl. It's not as if she was willing to give up on it just yet. Things may have changed but she didn't want everything to suddenly vanish. She was going to get her crown and Finn may just be a joy ride she could catch to it.

* * *

"So why didn't you call me over the weekend? I thought we were going to hang out or something."

Quinn felt a pang of guilt race through her body, dumping itself right in the pit of her stomach. Her cheeks flustered nervously. _Don't let it get to you,_ she told herself, _just go about it as you normally would. You're only hurting him more if you don't._

"I was busy." she growled, shoving the books in her locker aside with frustration, "We don't have to hang out every weekend, Finn."

Finn shifted on his feet nervously. "Sorry… I just thought you'd like to do something. You know, since we are kind of dating again and everything."

There was no snipe intended by that and Quinn knew that, as Finn was too harmless to give out backhanded insults but she understood that he felt hurt about her always lashing out on him. She sighed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout. I've just been really stressed lately with school and stuff. I'm taking it out on everyone, not just you." she murmured, shutting her locker gently and sliding her arm through Finn's.

Finn smiled and shrugged. "S'okay. You like to shout, it's who you are."

Quinn giggled girlishly, remembering why she fell in love with Finn in the first place. It was such a shame that those feelings no longer remained. "I do like to shout."

He led her into the choir room like he would've any other day but there was something thick and suspicious in the air this time round. She suspected it was the moment she saw Sam sitting there that she shouldn't felt as if she was being watched, or worse, judged, by everyone else in the room. She felt as if they were on to her, just waiting for her to trip up.

It wasn't until Finn spoke up that she realised that she'd halted in the doorway.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked, trying to drag her along to the seats at the back of the room.

Quinn awoke from her thoughts, pushing them away with a shake of the head. "Oh, it's nothing." she mumbled, following Finn's lead and averting her gaze from Sam. She wouldn't look at him - she couldn't without feeling guilty.

Mr. Schue entered the room late as usual. Group discussions began, many of the kids speaking up and voicing their opinions on what songs they should perform for Regionals.

_Regionals._ The word sounded strange to Quinn's ears. She glanced over at Finn, clearly oblivious to her discomfort. _Regionals. He had until Regionals._

She glanced over at Sam a few seats down. He was trying to see her too without being too blatant about his turning around. He'd shifted his face to the left slightly so that he could just gaze at her through his peripheral vision. He jumped when he noticed she was looking.

Quinn furiously shot her eyes sideways and then back again. Sam took this as a signal to stop what he was doing and stop making things suspicious.

He obliged immediately and tried to pay attention to what everyone else was saying but all he could seem to do was wonder what Quinn looked like behind him. Probably sitting tall and proud, her arm linked in Finn's as she leaned into his shoulder.

_Don't think about it,_ he told himself, _it'll only make it worse._ But he couldn't seem to help himself. The fact that he subconsciously knew that Quinn was behind him made him shift uncomfortably in his seat, almost as if he could hear her breathing and the rest of the room was just oblivious.

"Mr. Schue." Rachel's voice annoyingly brought him to reality, "I think we should do original songs for Regionals."

Giggles and whispers broke out between the group as people shrugged off Rachel's 'crazy' idea.

"No, wait, guys." Quinn spoke up from the back, "I think Rachel's right. We should do original songs for Regionals."

An argument began to break out between the group and it took Mr. Schue a while to calm things down. Quinn argued that if they sang original songs then it would be better than the other school's as it would come from the heart.

Sam had to agree, as he always did with her. She was such a headstrong girl. It was one of the things that made him fall for her in the first place, aside from her obvious beauty and adorable personality. She knew what she wanted and she wasn't afraid to speak her mind.

Even if that meant agreeing with Rachel Berry.

Although the discussion raised a few eyebrows, the whole group agreed in the end that they would all write their own songs and showcase them throughout the week. They would then decide on which were the best and take them to Regionals with them.

After the Glee session had finished, Finn left early as he had to go home to help his mom with the dinner. Quinn nodded and allowed him to kiss her on the cheek before he jetted off. She spent a while to collect her books, standing up only to realise that Sam was pacing up and down the now empty room.

"Hey…" she murmured confusedly, "what are you waiting for?"

"You, actually." he chuckled approaching her as he played with his hands, "I was wondering when we're going to start writing this song for Regionals."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "What song?"

"Well, you know… the one you were just talking about. You did say that you wanted to write a song."

"Yes…" she left her eyebrow slightly raised and added a questioning tone to her voice as if to explain that she didn't understand. Suddenly, a light bulb switched on in her head. "Oh! You thought-…?" she laughed and patted his bicep. Sam smiled automatically and tried to laugh with her but he didn't quite understand what she found so funny. "Are you stupid or are you just stupid?" she spat disgustedly, suddenly cutting her laughter and replacing it with a sharp glare.

Sam swallowed. "What do you mean?" he murmured self consciously. It'd been a while since he'd faced angry Quinn but he remembered enough to know that it was never a good thing.

"You think I was going to sing with you? Sam, I might as well walk around with 'I'm cheating on Finn Hudson' scribbled across my forehead in Sharpie!" she exclaimed furiously. "You do realise that people still think you hate me, right?"

"I never hated you, Quinn." he pointed out stubbornly, trying not to take the blow too harshly. Ever since Quinn had mentioned it a few moments ago, he couldn't help but fantasise about all the moments he was going to share with her thanks to this project.

"Okay, fair enough, but you _were_ furious at me. If we changed our attitude towards each other now, people would only suspect things." Quinn huffed, making sure that the tone of her voice was low enough so that no one could hear their conversation nearby.

"Yeah, you're right…" Sam admitted, "Sorry. Who are you going to sing with?" he couldn't help but ask. He knew that Quinn would most probably be pairing up with Finn to make things seem normal, but he couldn't control his mouth. He wanted to find out from her rather than watching them perform it together like the 'happy couple' they were.

Quinn hesitated. She folded her arms. "I'm going to ask Rachel."

It was your typical spit-take moment. Sam almost choked on his own breath. "What? Are you serious?" she exclaimed, laughing it off as if it was a joke. His expression changed as soon as he saw the judging look on Quinn face. "Oh my God, you're serious."

"Yes, I'm serious! I know I'm not always one hundred per cent there and all but I do care about Glee and I want to win Regionals. Rachel is a talented song writer. Plus, think about it - if we win Regionals thanks to me then there's more of a chance that people will vote for me as prom Queen. It's simple math."

Sam's eyes widened even more. "Prom queen? You're running for prom queen?" he asked incredulously.

Quinn knitted her eyebrows tightly together. "_Yes_." she growled sternly, "I'm running for prom queen. So what?"

"Well, I just thought that… you know, you were so over all that." he mumbled confusedly, "You've never shown any interest in it before."

Quinn shrugged. "It's been a dream since I was young, okay? Judge all you like but it's really important to me - I've been planning it since I was just 5 years old…" she sighed wistfully, staring off into the distance as she imagined a glistening tiara sitting proudly over her blonde locks.

She glanced out into the empty hallway aside of them. She allowed Sam a sneaky yet lingering kiss, biting his bottom lip as she pulled away. "I'll see you soon." she winked at his suggestively as she left the room.

Sam remained still, almost star struck by Quinn's very presence. She was mesmerising - he couldn't think straight when she was around, almost as if he breathed her. He tried not to be cliché or cheesy when it came to girls but he'd never felt this way about anyone before.

It was just a shame he had to break the rules to get her.

* * *

The following day, Quinn arrived at the celibacy club early as she planned to ask Rachel to write the song with her.

It seemed strange seeing as she'd slept with Sam numerous times to remain in a club that practically shunned sex, but it was normal and unsuspicious. There was less of a chance that anyone was going to guess anything if she seemed publicly celibate. She was already lying anyway - another small one couldn't do much more damage.

As if one cue, Rachel arrived and Quinn looked up from her seat. "Rachel." she spoke, allowing a small smile.

Rachel shot a questioning look at her rival as she approached her own seat. "Hi… why are you here so early? I'm usually the first one."

Quinn stood up. "There's actually something I wanted to ask you about." she cleared her throat as she strolled around to Rachel's seat. "I was wondering if you wanted to write a song together, you know, for Regionals. I know you've probably already began but I'm not exactly the most musically gifted of the group and I'd really like to help you. I think you're really talented, Rachel."

Rachel was clearly taken aback by Quinn's polite and complimentary words. "Wow… that's really nice of you, Quinn. But aren't you writing one with Finn?"

It didn't take a genius to detect the glimmer or jealously in those words and the slight snipe. She shook her head. "I might be dating Finn but we're taking it slow. If we spend too much time together, it could be fatal."

The brunette swallowed back the lump in her throat. "Are you guys really dating?"

It was true that Quinn felt extremely guilty about how she'd hurt Rachel but she couldn't apologise. Not now, anyway. Apologising would no doubt cause Rachel to suspect something. After all, she had been the one to break the news to Finn that it wasn't his baby last year. Quinn didn't want to give her that opportunity again. She had to seem as normal as possible.

"Yes." she sighed, fluttering her eyelids as she turned away. "We're really dating."

Rachel didn't want to seem rude but she couldn't help herself. "But _why_? It didn't work out the first time - why try it again?"

Quinn felt angered by her comment. "_Because_ Rachel. It's not up to you who I do or don't date. Is that clear?" it may have been too much, but it was true. As talented as Rachel was, her God awful personality turned people away from her a lot of the time. It was moments like these when Quinn realised how much she hated her to begin with.

Rachel opened her mouth as if she were about to retort but Mrs Pillsbury burst into the room and cut Rachel's breath short. The two girls shared knowing glances whilst Quinn returned to her seat on the opposite side of the room - this conversation would continue later.

**Hope you enjoyed! Oh and for all the reviewers who said that they enjoyed Puck's comical moments, I'm planning on bringing him into the story as a lot more so I hope you look forward to that. Feedback would be incredible! Thank you for reading.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Just before I write this chapter, I want to inform you guys that some of what I've written below is another adaptation of the piano scene in 'Original Song' (which I thought Lea and Dianna were both absolutely incredible in by the way). The same emotions and outcome are produced, the dialogue and setting is just a little different. I hope you don't find it too boring! Enjoy.**

The scene was set - the choir room of a Thursday afternoon after class. The rest of the school was left abandoned as everyone else had already scurried home. Rachel waited impatiently for Quinn to arrive. This wasn't over.

Quinn finally showed, strolling into the room casually as she set down her music sheets on top of the piano.

"You are _ten_ minutes late!" Rachel exclaimed furiously, shooting up from the piano stool the moment that the blonde entered the room.

Initially, Quinn was slightly taken aback as she had not expected Rachel to jump on her like that but otherwise she was nonplussed. "So?" she mumbled, licking her finger tip and scanning through the pile of sheets.

Rachel's jaw almost felt to the floor. "You know, if you want to make it anywhere, being early is a _necessity,_ Quinn. You can't just show up late and expect to-"

"Who said I wanted to make it anywhere?" Quinn cut her sentence short, throwing the brunette an arrogant glance.

Rachel was left speech. After a pregnant pause, she cleared her throat and regained her composure. "What good is life if you don't have any aspirations?" she enquired more timidly this time around.

Quinn shrugged. "Oh, I have aspirations. Just not those of your kind. You know, if you aim high you're going to be left disappointed."

Rachel was utterly hurt but she ignored the snipe. "Why are you with Finn?" she asked barely audible.

Furiously, Quinn slammed her fist into the piano which caught Rachel off guard. "You've asked me this, Rachel! Do you really want me to answer it again? Do you _enjoy_ having your heart broken?"

"No, I just- I know you have ulterior motives, Quinn. Do you really expect me to believe you just suddenly rekindled your love for him?"

"You know what, Rachel? I don't expect that because I _know_ you wont understand. You don't understand why anyone _might_ just love me a little more than you because you don't like it. And who are you to chastise me over my business with Finn? You had your chance with him and you failed. Deal with it!"

The sudden outburst even surprised Quinn. She didn't particularly mean to be fuming on Rachel, it was just something that was naturally occurring due to all the suspense that had been building inside her for the past few days. She kept suspecting that someone would catch her out, especially Rachel. If there was a secret to be told, you could almost guarantee Rachel would be the one to tell it. Therefore, Quinn had to be completely and utterly secretive.

Rachel felt her eyes swell up with her tears and her vision turned blurry but she pushed it aside and gulped back the lump in her throat. "I want you to know that I respect you, Quinn. I know we see each other as competition often and I can't help it if you're my natural enemy but I'm sick of loosing to you."

Quinn scoffed. "Well, I'm sorry, Rachel." she spat sarcastically, "But if you don't want to loose, then you should forfeit because it's clear who Finn wants and that is not you."

"Fine then." Rachel choked as she blinked the tears away. "Here's me forfeiting."

And with that, she fled out of the room with tears flooding down her face. As for Quinn, she stood speechless beside the piano. After a few moments had passed, it finally dawned on her that she had kind of soiled her plan - Rachel was certainly not going to be writing a song with her now.

"Holy shit!" she yelled furiously, slamming her fist into the piano keys which made a distorted sound. Her dream of becoming prom queen had just become less realistic.

* * *

Sam tapped his fingers on the table top nervously. He couldn't concentrate. Not that he particularly enjoyed Biology anyway but the scent that was radiating from the figure behind him was just to intoxicating to even begin to fathom.

Usually, Quinn would've sat a few seats further down the row behind him but thanks to a swap she'd made with another classmate in order to improve her vision of the class, she was now sitting direction behind Sam.

He fidgeted and fussed in his chair, changing his sitting position constantly and leaning on his hand to try and concentrate. Nothing worked.

He cursed under his breath as he thought of Quinn - her flawless skin, glistening hazel eyes and full lips. It was only the very best of his will power that was controlling his feelings so that he didn't burst out of his seat and pounce on her right there and then. He could hear her tapping her pencil on the wooden desk.

He imagined her face - probably thoughtful as she tried to figure out the equation on the board in front of them that Sam had given up on long ago. The class was completely silent, making the situation even more uncomfortable for Sam. He felt as if everyone was watching him.

Suddenly an idea came about him. He glanced at the notepad in front of him and the innocently tore the corner of a piece of paper. If he couldn't speak or interact with her physically, he would do it via paper.

Staring at the blank piece of paper, he tried to decide what to right. _Hello… I love you?_ he thought but the words sounded wrong in his head. It took him several moments to sum up a reasonable thing to write.

Sam glanced at the teacher who was too involved in his novel to notice anything particularly odd about the class room and after checking once more that none of the other students were looking, he pretended to yawn and placed the folded piece of paper on Quinn's desk.

Quinn glared at the paper, looking from side to side to see who was looking. Furrowing her eyebrows, she slid her fingertips towards the paper until she finally managed to grasp it without anyone notice. She pulled it back to her and unfolded it on top of her text book.

'I want you.'

It took all of her energy to suppress a wide grin. She fluttered her eyelids, checking that the inscription was right. Yep, there it was in black and white. Sam had sent her a dirty class room note. In a way it was kind of dorky but it was also incredibly sexy too.

After some thought, Quinn scribbled on the piece of paper below Sam's message in her loopy handwriting. Once done, she coughed and Sam took this as a signal. He backhandedly reached behind him and clasp his fingers around the note as it fell off the desk. Still, no one seemed to notice there antics.

Placing the note in front of him, Sam scrabbled to open it. He had to bite his lip so hard when he saw it that he could almost taste the blood about the gush from his gums.

'Think you can cope until the end of this period? Because I have a treat for you.'

Without hesitation, Sam began to press his ball point pen against the rugged lined paper. He threw it back to Quinn as easy as possible in the hope that no one would notice.

'Bring it on'.

* * *

The sound of their bodies crashing against a cubicle in the girls toilets would have raised some eyebrows if they hadn't been skipping class.

Sam sucked at the skin of Quinn's neck as she begged for more, forcing his head closer to her as he scrambled up and down of her body.

Quinn's mouth was left wide open as she raised her eyes to the heavens, trying to suppress her avid desire to groan loudly at the top of her lungs. "Sam, you're killing me here! Ugh!" she whisper-yelled as she pulled and tugged at the cotton of his t-shirt.

Sam chuckled as he slobbered slightly through their wet kissing. "This is really dangerous you know?" he whispered breathlessly as she unbuckled the belt of his own jeans. "If we get caught we don't stand a chance in hell."

Scoffing, Quinn dragged his jeans down herself. "It's only a quickie, Sam. Don't get yourself so excited."

Sam laughed quietly. "You treat it like it's noth-ah!" Sam would've finished that sentence if Quinn hadn't slipped her hands so quickly into his boxer shorts. His moans and groans could now no longer be controlled as he felt her fingertips trace his now hardening flesh, at first softly but then extremely ruggedly.

Smiling to herself with accomplishment, Quinn smacked her lips against Sam's after producing her hand from his boxers again. It was now slightly wetter than before.

They froze in shock and horror when the sound of footsteps approached from down the hall. They seemed to be headed in the direction of the bathroom.

"Shit, shit, shit…" Sam cursed under his breath as they both made a double effort to pull his trousers up again. Looked like their 'quickie' would have to wait.

"What am I going to do?" he exclaimed in hushed tones. "If they see my feet underneath the cubicle, they are going to be seriously creeped out!"

Quinn thought and then pointed to the toilet seat. "The toilet seat! Stand on the toilet seat!" she helped him hope onto the slightly slippery surface. He ducked his head so that he could not been seen above the top of the cubicle either.

Whistling sounded from outside as the door flung open. The moment Quinn heard it, she knew the unmistakable whistle from anywhere - Noah Puckerman.

_Hold on a second,_ she thought to herself, _the_ girls_ bathroom?_

Without even thinking, she slipped out of the door of the cubicle without leaving it open for Sam to be seen. He mouthed her name furiously but she ignored him. She had to get to the bottom of this.

Noah stopped dead in his tracks as he faced the blonde. The surprise on his face mirrored hers yet she seemed more disgusted - Puck seemed more disappointed.

"_Puck_?" she exclaimed in an incredulous tone, "What the _hell_ are you doing in the girls bathr-"

Quinn was unable to finish the sentence because Puck had already clasped his hand against her mouth. She squirmed under his grasp and tried to scream but only muffled sounds came out. It was clear she was not going to escape so she stopped struggle.

"Shut up!" Puck whisper-yelled, "If anyone finds me in here, I'm dead!"

Quinn nodded as a sign of peace. Hesitantly, Noah released his grasp and allowed her to escape. She gasped for air and then flung around to face him.

"Then _why_ are you here in the first place?" she exclaimed in a hushed tone.

Puck looked from side to side, as if someone could be watching them from anywhere. "Because," he began after clearing his throat, "I want to know what it's like."

Quinn's eyes widened. After a long silence spent hoping that he was going to say 'just kidding, I got lost' she finally spoke up. "Are you insane?"

"Shhhh!" he quietened her tone again and ushered her to the corner of the room. "Keep your voice down."

Quinn's jaw fell open. "Are you serious? Puck, you're in the _girls_ bathroom. I don't know what kind of sick thrill you're getting out of this but quite frankly I don't find it very funny."

"I just need to know what one looks like, okay?" he admitted, an unfamiliar shade of pink burning on his tanned skin. "I've been thinking about it for a long time."

If it wasn't so insane, Quinn would've probably laughed and patted him on the head. "Okay, you have issues and you need to go. Right now."

This time around, Puck wasn't so ashamed. He managed to stand his ground, even if his motives were completely childish. "No. I'm here already, I might as well have a look around."

Quinn shook her head furiously. "Puck, this is girl territory. The point of it being the _girls_ bathroom is so that you _don't_ come in."

Puck shook his head and made his way to a cubicle. "I'm not giving up now. I need to know, okay?" he exclaimed determinedly. Unfortunately for Quinn, she was so taken aback by his presence that she hadn't even realised that the cubicle he was headed for was the on that she had left Sam in.

Her mind began to race ten times faster than it's average speed. She was thinking so fast that she forgot to keep her voice down.

"No! Puck, don't-" she gasped racing towards him.

"Oh my God, Sam!" Puck shrieked as the cubicle door flung open. Too late.

Sam could feel his face flushing bright red as was Quinn's. He gulped and plastered a bright and awkward grin on his face. He could've been the poster child for 'this-was-not-supposed-to-happen' from Quinn's perspective.

He cleared his throat. "H-Hey, man… uh-, how's it going?"

"Dude, what the hell?" Puck exclaimed, his facial expression outright baffled.

Sam hopped off the toilet seat, his palms sweating violently. "I can explain-"

"No need to, man!" Puck broke into a hysterical laughter which confused both Quinn and Sam who shared awkward glances. "I knew I wasn't the only one!"

It took a few moments for Sam to grasp what Puck was implying. Once he got it, he immediately broke into a fake chuckle himself. "I know, right?" he agreed as she excited the cubicle.

Quinn caught on and followed the script as Sam had. "Well, I think you're both disgusting pigs. I don't see what the fascination is, really." she scoffed, pulling out her best repulsed frown and crinkled forehead.

Sam patted his team mate on the back. "Well, I better get back to Spanish class or Mr. Schue won't be happy. See you around, man."

Just as he was on his way out, Puck called to him. "Oh and by the way, you're fly is down!" he nodded and him and winked.

Sam's stomach twisted into a knot. "Oh… r-right. Thanks, dude." he muttered, pulling it up on his way out. He glanced at Quinn once. She nodded serenely and he knew exactly what that meant - they would need to be more careful next time or they wouldn't be so lucky anymore.

A pregnant silence fell between the two remaining members of the bathroom.

"So…" Puck was the first to speak, "Wanna make out?"

Once again, Quinn pulled out her appalled facial expression but this time it was for real. "Ugh." she groaned before stalking out of the bathroom in a strop.

**Ah how I adore Puck :') Haha I hoped you liked him too! And that chapter… I certainly enjoyed writing it! Reviews please, and thank you very much for reading. (:**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello again! Right, I know I only updated yesterday but I really felt like writing some more today after I watched a few Fabrevans fan videos on YouTube that kind of inspired me or at least encouraged me to share the Fabrevans love. Hope you enjoy!**

"I want to be with you, Sam." she begged, her voice cracking. Her throat stung so bad and she was on the verge of crying but she sucked it in, anticipating his answer.

He turned around and glanced at her. His eyes were full of disappointment and she immediately realised that there was no chance of him forgiving her. She didn't need an answer anymore. She didn't want to hear it anymore.

"Forget it." he scoffed, shaking his head in disgust as he turned away.

Quinn stood lifeless in the middle of the crowded hallway, surrounded by people but feeling so alone. After all, who was she without Sam? No one - that's who she was. Just a lamb that had wondered away from the rest of the flock.

Quinn bolted upright from the bed, shaking and sweating with fear. She panted heavily as her eyes took in the familiar surroundings of her bedroom - her stuffed animals, the pictures of past memories.

"It was just a dream…" she whispered to herself, "a nightmare…"

A tired arousing groan rose from beside her. She glanced in it's direction, seeing Sam fumble to sit upright. He placed his hand on her bare back, feeling the sweat dripping from it.

"Are you okay?" he mumbled quietly as he used his hand to soothe her. She lay back down and faced her head his way on the pillow.

"Yeah…" she chuckled slightly, nodding her head and closing her eyes but she wasn't so sure.

* * *

The following week, the whole of the club were due at Regionals. Anticipation and adrenaline ran through the choir room as they prepared themselves for the bus ride and whatever the day might have in store for them. After the song they'd managed to write as a group, things were seeming pretty positive. A lot of high spirits were crowded around in one place and the confidence level sore right above what it was when they went to Sectionals.

Sam had extremely fond memories of Sectionals. The duet he'd sang with Quinn was one of his favourites. He remembered watching her walk down a parallel path to his own, holding her tightly on the stage and singing the lyrics with pure passion and meaning.

He'd never felt so alive.

Thinking of her caused him to absentmindedly glance over her way. He was grinning as he did but was suddenly appalled once he saw.

She was with Finn as usual but he was whispering seductively in her ear. She held onto the waistband of his jeans and giggled, biting her lip as his words fed into her ears.

It's not that Sam hadn't expected her to be with Finn because she usually was nowadays to make things unsuspicious, but he just hadn't expected to see her so happy with him. He had always assumed from the moment he agreed to her terms that her relationship with Finn would be boring and unhappy as if it was an unwritten rule. Now after looking at her, he wasn't so sure.

She didn't even spare him a glance so he turned his head in disappointment. He tried to look anywhere in the room except that corner. He saw Artie and Brittany laughing _together_ and Tina and Mike running through routines happily _together_. He dreamed of the day when he could be like that with Quinn again, when no one would ask questions or share awkward and suspicious glances.

He looked back at Quinn again. She was kissing him this time and the pain in his stomach seemed even more intense. It didn't feel right.

* * *

After the group had arrived at Regionals, they all scurried to the dressing room. The girls put on their makeup and the guys began to run through their vocals.

Rachel sat alone in the far corner of the room and Quinn felt sorry for her. She admitted to being slightly harsh on her rival the other day but there was nothing she could do about it now. She couldn't even tell Rachel that she knew that she'd lied to her the day she'd woken up in her house. It would've been pointless anyway.

Quinn's train of thought was abruptly shaken as a strong, muscular hand dragged her away from the mirror, smudging her makeup as she was pulled.

"Hey!" she exclaimed angrily, dropping the brush as she turned to face whoever was pulling her - Sam. "You just smudged all my makeup! Thanks a lot." she whined in a more hushed tone. She didn't want people to notice them talking.

"Is it physical?" he asked with a stern face. His eyes were full of worry as he pulled her close by the elbow.

"What? Sam, I have no idea what you're-"

"Is it physical? Just-… just tell me. Is it physical between you and him?" he demanded.

Quinn's shoulders fell. She knitted her eyebrows together in a more regretful way then and judging way. "Sam, this is a public place. I don't think-"

"Quinn." he didn't have to say anything more as his eyes already told her the rest.

She sighed and held he bridge of her nose between her fingers. "Okay. Yes, it is. Is there a problem with that?" she whispered in an annoyed tone.

Sam felt as if he'd just taken a bullet to the heart. "So you're sleeping with him?" he asked with judgement in his eyes, "Do you know how that makes me feel?"

Quinn raised a questioning eyebrow. "Do you know how 'you-know-what'," she added quotation marks, "would make him feel?"

_Fair point,_ Sam admitted to himself after processing the words. He knew that Quinn had seen this in his facial expression the moment she nodded.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now, if you would." she scoffed, excusing herself from the conversation and leaving Sam stranded in the corner. He looked from side to side and face to face, checking if anyone had seen or seemed to have heard. Most of them were all too involved in themselves yet he found it in himself to ignore a questioning glance from Puck on the other side of the room and an intrigued glare from Rachel.

* * *

When Quinn watched Rachel sing that day, she could feel her heart shattering already. It wasn't so much the song or how Quinn knew that the lyrics related to her but it was the way that Finn looked at the brunette, even when he was with Quinn. She could feel him slipping out of fingers already.

She didn't have feelings for Finn but she still felt some sort of possessive desire to keep him around. They were dating for crying out loud and she wouldn't let _Rachel Berry_ to be the one to break them apart. The only one who could do that was Sam.

Although she didn't take action against Rachel right there and then, she didn't accept nor like what she was seeing when she watched her boyfriend hold her enemy tenderly in his arms. No, she was much more classier than that - she waited until _after_ they'd won.

"Are you some kind of crazy, psycho, boyfriend stealing bitch?" she exclaimed as the choir room emptied out after their celebration. Rachel's MVP award almost fell out of her hands.

"What? I don't know what you're-"

"_Don't_ pretend that song wasn't anything to do with what's going on between me and you because you know that even an idiot wouldn't believe that. Let me spell it out for you, okay? Finn is mine, not yours. You're not having him, I am. Is that clear enough for you or should I write it down?" she spat sarcastically in a disgusted tone.

Rachel's facial expression was a mixture of appalled and absolutely terrified. "I can see why you're jealous but I'm not apologising for anything, Quinn." Rachel sniped back, "You're only angry because you're afraid you're loosing him to me. I can't help if he feels that way."

Quinn scoffed. "Are you serious? If you think I'm jealous of you, think again. I'm just sick of you _trying_ to take everything that I have and it's not fair!"

Rachel's eyes widened in disgust. "Quinn, I'm not trying to take anything from you!" she pleaded angrily, closing the space in between them, "It's happening naturally and you know it. Besides, I'm not the one who has feelings for Sam."

The anger inside of Quinn bubbled over. This was too much. "You take that back!" she demanded, her voice so loud she was practically screeching. People were starting to peer in from outside the choir room.

"No, I refuse to take it back because it's true!" Rachel spat, "I can see it, the way you look at him. You know you're hurting Finn by still being with him?"

Quinn's eyes almost burst out of her sockets. She knocked Rachel back a few steps by walking into her violently, "Shut up!" she cried, "You don't know the first thing about me, Rachel Berry. You'll be sorry when he doesn't act on his so-called 'feelings' you know?" she laughed humourlessly, "He'll drop you, just like that. That's the way he is."

Rachel shook her head. "No, Quinn. That's how it happened with you, not me. He wouldn't have bothered to make another move if you hadn't acted first." Rachel's voice was calm but her eyes were cold and unforgiving. "You know it's the truth."

"Well, you're fooling yourself if you think that I'm afraid. What makes you think you're better than I am? He loved me first - deal with it."

A light bulb switched on in Rachel's mind. She knew exactly how to leave Quinn speechless and take the prize for winning this argument. "Well, I'm not the one who slept in _my bed_ with Sam Evans." she snapped, pushing Quinn slightly before flooding out of the room.

Quinn's eyes widened. Her entire body had frozen and she couldn't move anymore. Her instincts told her that by tomorrow everyone in the Glee club would know their dirty little secret and soon enough it would spread like fire on paper around the whole school.

This called for serious measures.

* * *

It didn't take long for Quinn to find Sam. Sometimes she swore that she had this strange sixth sense that told her where he would be or at least where to look but when she did find him, she wasn't pleased.

It was unusually sunny for a day in early March so many of the students had chosen to enjoy their lunch in the outside quarters of the school. Her eyes scoured the surroundings, looking for a boy with floppy blonde hair and a McKinley jacket.

He sat a few tables away from where Quinn was standing, enjoying his lunch and laughing and joking with his friends. Completely normal, right? Wrong.

Because Santana Lopez was sat in his lap, nibbling on his hair seductively and whispering dirty words.

And Sam seemed to be enjoying it.

**I know a lot of you are going to want to kill me now hehehe or at least Sam but I just had to! Okay, I didn't have to but I needed to make things a little more interesting and spice it up a bit. I'll try and update sooner if you guys wanna give me some feedback and tell me what you think? Thanks for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello again faithful readers! Before I begin writing this chapter, I just want to go over a few of the reviews I received on how Quinn was also sleeping with Finn. I apologise that I didn't make it clear, I probably should have looked over it a bit more before I posted it but I was trying to imply that she'd already slept with Finn before she started fooling around with Sam so she couldn't just stop because he'd suspect something. I hope that clears it up a bit for you? I know a lot of you don't like it so I'm going to try and ease it down a little. I'm sorry I'm making her a bit of (or a major) bitch at the moment but all in good time my people :P enjoy!**

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Quinn whisper-yelled as she slammed Sam's locker shut for him.

Sam glanced over at her, looking her up and down before dismissing her with a sigh as he began to walk down the opposite direction of the hallway. "I don't know what you're talking about." he grumbled but both of them knew he clearly did. Even he'd seen Quinn's jaw drop to the floor the moment she'd noticed him with Santana.

Scrambling after him, Quinn glanced from side to side self consciously. At least since they were actually having an argument people wouldn't be too suspicious. "Oh, you know _exactly_ what I'm talking about, Sam Evans, and don't you dare act like you don't."

He groaned with an annoyed expression on his face. "It doesn't mean anything, Quinn."

Quinn scoffed. "You can't be serious - of course it means something! Otherwise, you wouldn't have done _it_."

"What, just like you're doing it to me?" Sam retorted, turning to face her in the hallway. People mumbled annoyingly around them as they blocked the way but as a pregnant pause fell in between them, those people didn't exist anymore.

"That's different…" Quinn muttered, averting her gaze and playing with the edges of the notepad in her arms.

His eyes were full disgust and disbelief. He shook his head and turned away from her again and headed to his next class. "I don't believe you. After all we've been through, you're still crawling back to him."

Quinn couldn't take this - not again. "That's not true!" she yelled a little louder than she should have, attracting weird glances from surrounding pupils. She noticed this immediately, lowering the sound of her voice. "Do you really think I'd be doing _this_ if that was true?"

Sam considered her side of the argument. There was a truth to it but he was still hurting her without any real need. Plus, people would be less suspecting if he already had a girlfriend. It was just another layer to their already overflowing bowl of lies. "Prove it then. Prove to me it's not true, Quinn." he stopped again, turning to face her. Those eyes that captured his breath every time, the ones that he spent every day dreaming about rather than listening to his teachers.

Quinn gulped and began to look slightly nervous. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, I've only slept with him once since… you know. We've been…" she didn't want to say it out loud since they were still surrounded by students who could overhear their conversation. "But I can't end it now. I wish I could but I can't - I know I said after Regionals and I'm sorry but… there's something a need to tell you." she glanced from side to side, checking who was watching in the now-emptying hallways. She then decided on pushing him into a nearby vacant classroom to explain.

Sam rolled his eyes. Even if it had only been once it was still wrong. He couldn't imagine Quinn in the arms of anyone else. It was bad enough that he had to see her pretending when they were in school, looking genuinely happy with him. It killed him inside. He couldn't even begin to fathom what he would feel like if it _was_ real.

Nevertheless, he listened to her explanation of how she'd been arguing with Rachel who had blurted out their little 'secret' before storming out. She also expressed her views on how she was pretty certain a lot of people would know about this by tomorrow, assuming Rachel hadn't had some kind of uncanny-character-transformation. As the story went on, he grew wearier and wearier with grimace.

"Okay, that is a problem…" she mumbled worriedly, his forehead stressing.

"Exactly!" Quinn exclaimed angrily. She held the bridge of her nose, her other hand on her hip. She was completely lost - she didn't know what to do. She loved Sam, of course she did, but she couldn't ruin anything they prospered for, not now. She cared about him too much to let everything slip away and that's why she had to stay with Finn for the time being. She didn't want to ruin Sam's good reputation. Besides, he was already on bad terms with Finn after what had happened recently. Their was no need for it to escalate any higher and Quinn would do pretty much anything in her power to stop things from getting out of control.

"What am I going to do?" she asked rhetorically, speaking to herself rather than to Sam. "It's exactly why I can't break up with him - he'll know something's up!"

Sam bit his lip unsurely. Words couldn't describe how much he craved for Quinn to be faithful to him and only him. He felt dirty and wrong. This was _wrong_.

And yet he couldn't pull himself away, nor did he want to. This gravitational pull had been created in between them, a bond that not even he could break. Those eyes, the ones that had taken his breath away the very first time he saw her, were still as captivating as ever. There was no explanation for a love like this.

"Would you try?" he asked, desperation seeping through his words as he moved closer to her, "Please, Quinn. I can't take this much longer. It's too much."

Quinn tried to argue her side but she simply couldn't when he looked at her in that way. He compelled her in an indescribable why. His eyes were screaming _'try'_ and her heart echoed his needs. She wanted, no, she _needed_ to be with him.

Gradually, she accepted the fact if she wanted this to work it would have to end somewhere and the time was nearing. She nodded slowly. "Okay…" he sighed, taking his hand in her own and squeezing it tightly for reassurance, "I'll try but you know I can't guarantee anything. I'll see how things go. But you have to promise to try and find a way to get rid of Santana without things seeming to strange."

It took Sam some thinking about but he eventually agreed. "Yeah, you're right. I have to pull my weight too. I'm sorry I acted so impulsively. I was just so… angry, really. Jealous. I was jealous."

Quinn allowed herself a small, quiet laugh. She pressed her hand to one side of his face, admiring his eyes. She stared at his lips wistfully, wanting to kiss them so bad but still conscious of where she was. "You don't need to be jealous, Sam. I know it might not feel like it but no matter how I act around Finn, I love you and not him. Okay?"

Sam nodded. "I know that," he admitted, "I just can't help it. I need you all to myself." he pulled her closer as she laughed, sliding his hands down to her waist and nuzzling into the crook of her neck.

"Sam!" she exclaimed although she never pulled away from him. She held him close, just happy to be in his embrace again. She couldn't even begin to imagine life without him nowadays. She was pretty sure she would have taken some crazy measures if she'd have had to go without him any longer before they began this secret relationship.

After enjoying each others presence, they bid each other goodbye. Quinn allowed him a small, lingering kiss after making sure the hallways outside were empty and then they both headed to their next classes with smiles on their faces.

Sam remembered the day he'd 'kind-of-almost-proposed' to Quinn. He recalled the planets dangling above their heads in a pretty lighting. The nervousness he felt bending down on one knee. Her laughter, those eyes, that smile.

And then the unreadable 'maybe' she'd given him which had left him pretty much broken hearted. He was so self conscious of himself already, he hadn't anymore need to bring himself down but he simply just couldn't stop thinking about how much of an idiot she probably thought he was.

Until she appeared beside him wearing his ring, loud and proud on the right finger. He wanted it to be like that when they grew older as cliché and optimistic as it sounded. He was counting the days until she could wear that ring again.

He just wished that there was less of them because everyday felt like a challenge unless he was with her.

* * *

Everyone was watching.

Both of them had been paranoid over the last few weeks or so but they'd never really experienced what it felt like to actually be watched. It was ten times worse.

The moment Sam walked through the doorway all his could see was curious glances, people whispering to one another whilst looking over, trying to catch a reaction from him. He dismissed them immediately, warning himself not to let anyone to get to him. As long as they didn't know the _full_ truth, that was what counted.

Because if people really found out, the consequences would be much worse. He'd ruin Quinn, firstly - no girl would want to speak to her, everyone would assume she was another cheating bitch. Which she wasn't because what she was doing now, the way she was doing it in secret, was simply not to hurt Finn. Right?

_Right…_ Sam wasn't so sure. But he pushed it to the back of his mind, as he did with every need to punch every guy throwing an arrogant smirk his way or nodding at him in approval. Why was everyone such jerks to girls these days? Was this how it had been after everyone found out that it had been Puck who deflowered her rather than Finn? Or how it was when everyone assumed Finn was the father of her baby?

By the time Glee came about that day, he hadn't even seen Quinn to know how she was feeling, which was probably awful. He also assumed that she hadn't yet spoken to Finn yet, which was correct. Rachel's mouth may have gotten them some places but lately all it seemed to be causing was trouble.

Unusually, as they awaited Mr. Schue's arrival in the choir room, everyone was completely silent. You could have heard a pin drop in that room, no lie. That was until Santana opened her mouth.

"Okay, can we please talk about the huge elephant in the room, please?" she spat as she shot Sam an angry glance from across the room. She hadn't spoken to him all day. Sam was pretty sure she'd been avoiding him in order to protect her own reputation.

Quinn kept her head held down and she spoke quietly but everyone heard what she said. "There's nothing to talk about." she muttered.

"Clearly, there is." Santana argued, turning around to face the former head of the Cheerios. "We all know you slept with Sam, Quinn. You're making a bigger deal out of it than you have to if you choose to ignore it."

Quinn's face shot up instantly. You could tell by her body language that she was mentally separated from Finn as their chairs were slightly apart today. "Okay, first of all, that doesn't make any sense whatsoever," she used to her finger to count, "and secondly, why should we speak about it? It's nothing to do with you - I can't sort it out in my own time, thanks!"

Santana scoffed. "Well, I'm sorry." she chuckled sarcastically, "I just wanted to congratulate you on your official whore status. Is that okay?"

The blonde jerked out of her chair immediately. "Oh please, Santana, give it up! You're just jealous that maybe people actually like me for _me_ rather than for just sex! No one's a bigger whore in this school than you."

"No, why don't _you_ give it up!" the Latina rose from her own seat as the two girls moved to the front of the room, snarling each other like animals as they did. "Because I'm pretty sure if Sam liked you for you then you would be with him now. And are you? No, didn't think so - you're with Frankenteen over there!"

Finn shouted an annoyed "hey!" in protest but his cry wasn't even acknowledged since the two girls and the rest of the room were already too consumed in this argument.

Quinn bit back any desire she had to burst out in laughter and explain to Santana that she was just for show. "Well, I'm _sorry_ but at least I am _actually_ with him because we _actually_ like each other. You slept with him once and you're only with Sam because you bribed him with your breasts!" she shoved her former friend slightly, sending his stumbling back but Santana wasn't one to back down so easily. She quickly regained her composure.

The term 'all hell broke loose' has been applied to certain situations but it did not apply to this because what went on was much worse than hell. Santana tackled Quinn in a matter of miliseconds, sending both of the girls to the floor which they rolled around and pulled each others hair with pure rage and fury. The rest of the room began to yell and/or cheer for whoever felt was worthy of the win, apart from Sam who sat quietly in the back and Finn and Puck who were desperately trying to break up the fight.

"Come on you guys! Give it up already" Puck yelled as he pulled the fiery-tempered Quinn from straddling Santana and jerking her shoulders back and forth against the floor.

"You take it all back!" Quinn screamed furiously, "Take every word back, you filthy whore!"

Santana, who was being pulled back by Finn, also had a few names for Quinn. She yelled them at the top of her lungs, none of them very flattering at all.

Mr. Schue entered the room just at that moment. He was into action instantly without even analysing the situation properly. He quickly took Santana from Finn's arms who was clearly loosing grip.

The whole room fell silent apart from Quinn and Santana's heavy breathing and vicious words.

"Both of you! Stop this _right now_ or I'll have to get principle Figgins in here!" he cried furiously. This seemed to quieten the two girls but it didn't stop their hateful glares they sent each other from either side of the room.

Quinn tried to break free but Puck's grip was too strong.

"What has gotten into you two?" Mr. Schue yelled. "You're breaking this club to pieces!"

"It's not my fault Quinn is just a hoe who lets people sleep with her out of pity!"

No longer could Puck's grip hold Quinn back. She swiftly raised her leg, kicking him in the private areas backhandedly before pouncing for Santana again.

"THAT'S _ENOUGH_!" Mr. Schue's voice was even louder this time if possible. No one had ever heard him yell so loudly. "Santana, principal Figgins office!" she commanded harshly, "NOW!"

Gradually, Santana obliged giving Quinn one last loathing glare before allowing the Spanish teacher to guide her outside the choir room and down the hall.

The room was again completely silent again once the two were well gone. Puck held his head low, Rachel withered shyly in the corner and Finn just looked broken.

Quinn's eyes welled up with tears as everyone else watched her. He lip quivered noticeably and a few stray tears escaped the surface of her eyes. She looked over at Sam whose heart was heavy with his head turned away from her. Then, she looked at Finn whose eyes were desperate with confusion and begging for some kind of explanation.

She didn't get to see the rest because she'd already burst out of the room in tears, flooding down the hallway with her arm draped over her eyes.

* * *

By the time Finn found Quinn, she was sitting on the steps of the school by herself. Due to the fact that she'd skipped the remaining lessons on her time table, he'd assumed she'd already gone home but he'd decided to go looking for her anyway.

"Hey." he mumbled nervously as he approached her.

She didn't flinch, nor did she look up. She just continued to sit the way she had been when he found her, staring into space aimlessly. "Hi." she choked. It was cold, harsh and blunt greeting but Finn took what he could get.

"So…" he cleared his throat before sitting on the step beside her, "how are you doing?"

Quinn laughed humourlessly. "Just peachy, you know? I've had a wonderful day. I mean, the whole school thinks I'm a whore. You don't get any better than that."

Finn nodded. He accepted the sarcasm as a sign of 'I-don't-really-want-to-talk-to-you' but he stayed anyway. He knew Quinn and he knew that she didn't like to be alone at times like these, as much as she tried to convince people that she did.

"Look," he sighed with a defeated tone, "if it means anything to you, I'm not going to judge you. What you did happened before we were together and that was fine."

Quinn's heart fell heavy. It beat loudly in her ears as she felt his intent gaze piercing into her through her peripheral vision. It wasn't supposed to be like this - this was supposed to be the part where he told her it was over and that they couldn't carry on like this. Why did her life have to be so complicated?

"I don't need this, Finn." she scoffed, wiping away the remainders of the tears drooling down her face. "I don't need any of this right now."

"I'm only trying to help, Quinn." Finn argued as he became more and more frustrated with the blonde, "You can't blame me - I'm your boyfriend for crying out loud. Why does it feel like you're drifting away from me? I don't want it to be that way."

She tried to think of a reasonable answer, but she couldn't. She just dwelled in the silence as it killed her inside, thinking of how she loved Sam and how much she wished that this wasn't happening. She shook her head gently as a cold breeze cut through her like a knife, knocking the breath out of her. She had nothing to say.

"Please. Just… _react_, Quinn. At the least. I need an answer."

She couldn't take it no more. She turned to face him. "You mean more to me than you think, Finn. And I'd go to great lengths to protect you, greater than you'd think."

Finn was speechless. He didn't realise the double meaning in her words. Of course, it's not that she was trying to imply anything, she just wanted him to know that she cared about him. Definitely not as much as she cared about Sam but it was still there. She couldn't deny it.

"I love you, Quinn." Finn choked, "I really do."

Quinn allowed the words to escape her lips robotically. She had no control over this situation anymore - it was slipping out of her hands and she knew it. Not even Sam could fix this now and they were too far gone to drop it. "I love you too, Finn."

They stood together and he hugged her tightly but Quinn was rigid as she lay her hands on his back as just over Finn's shoulder she could see a pair of piercing green eyes biting into her soul. Sam stood a good few yards away, watching them embrace each other with despair and longing.

A dark and twisted pain dwelled in Quinn's stomach. She hated herself for what she'd done, the person she was and what she wanted. Because now she realised - not only was she hurting Finn by this but she was hurting Sam as well.

And that she could never forgive herself for.

**Hopefully that made it a bit better for those of you who hated the idea of Quinn sleeping with Finn. Tell me in a review! There's a prom chapter coming up soon I hope… it depends what I have to write before hand. And there'll be some more Puck and Rachel as well, for those of you who have been enjoying that. Again, thank you so much for reading! You don't know how much I appreciate it :P**


	13. Chapter 13

**I don't have much to say in my opening author's note this time around… apart from the fact that I think those of you who hated the whole deal of Quinn sleeping with Finn will be rather pleased with this. Oh, and also credit to my best friend (aroseforyou) who helped me with a few of the concepts in this chapter. Enjoy!**

The following few days were like their own personal hell for Sam and Quinn.

After the incident during Glee with Santana, Quinn had refused to emerge from her bedroom for days on end. Therefore, she didn't show up at school for those few days. Her mother didn't mind - she was too consumed in her work to take any interest in her daughter's adolescence - so she got away with it too.

This also made it particularly hard for Sam. His grades weren't great like Quinn's were so he couldn't afford to stay off school so he showed up as much as it pained him. He hadn't spoken to his kind-of-almost girlfriend since the day that the truth came out about Rachel's party. He'd tried to call her several times and he'd even showed up at her house but she was like a nocturnal creature or something - she simply refused to leave the house.

He was pretty sure that if her mom hadn't have gone on a business trip she wouldn't have came out that house at all but being alone came with the burden of going out to buy the groceries and cleaning the house and although Sam would've done pretty much anything to get a word out of her at that point, he didn't want to pressure her and he knew that she wanted to keep her distance for a while.

So, he respected her space but every now and then he would send her a text simply just to say that he loved her, or he missed her or he cared about her.

But she didn't reply - not once. And it angered Sam, of course it did, but there was nothing he could do about it now. She was already damaged enough and pushing himself on her would only make it worse. He had to accept the fact that maybe Quinn didn't _want_ to see him.

But that didn't mean that he wasn't going to fight for her when she needed him.

* * *

School became more tedious for Sam as the days went on. He was so used to the thrill of seeing Quinn in between periods, during Glee, lessons or even at her locker yet now every time he glanced over now he was disappointed to see nothing but an empty space. He didn't think he could ever miss anybody so much.

He spent the days hanging around with whoever came about, whenever he wanted. Nobody seemed to mind, even the people that had a particular disliking to him, because he was so out of it that it was like he wasn't even there.

Santana continued to avoid him for her own personal sake. Sam didn't want to speak to her either though, so it didn't make a difference to him. Heck, from his point of view, he didn't have a girlfriend. He only had Quinn.

But the day did come when she said that she wanted to speak to him - in private, of course - and he obliged anyway. He didn't like the girl but he wasn't a jerk. He knew that he owed her an apology. After all, she had been his girlfriend at the time of Rachel's party.

"Listen, Blondie, here's the deal," there was no formal greeting or awkward smiles, just Santana sitting him down in the deserted library, "You cheated on me and I wouldn't have cared if it had been with anyone except Quinn, because you have _no_ idea how many times I fooled around, but it was so you have to pay for that."

Sam rolled his eyes at the Latina secretly so that she didn't see. The argument that they'd had the other day was totally unnecessary. He didn't understand why she and Quinn could just go about their way ignoring each other. They didn't have to be the best of friends but they didn't have to hate on each other every five minutes either. But Santana couldn't keep her big mouth shut, could she?

"I don't see what you're problem is with that girl…" Sam reiterated his thoughts, "Yeah, she told Coach Sylvester you had a boob job. You shouldn't have had a boob job."

"Wh- excuse me? Are you _sticking up_ for her?" she exclaimed incredulously, a little too loud so that the elderly Liberian shuffled over to hush her with a finger on her lips. The way she said the words 'sticking up' made it sound dirty. "You do realise that she cheated on you too, right?"

Sam didn't try to hide the rolling of his eyes this time. "Yes, I do but I don't dwell on things that happened in the past like you do. I don't hold grudges - she has a point, Santana, and you're running out of ways to defend yourself."

Santana's face was left gob smacked. Her jaw almost dropped the floor as the words came out of Sam's lips but Sam was sick of pretending that he didn't care about Quinn. It wasn't making anything suspicious because he'd felt the same way before their reconciling. They had a history he would never forget - he was the first girl, and possibly the only girl, he would ever love.

"You know, I was going to break up with you anyway," Santana spat angrily as she rose from her chair, "but now you've just made it ten times worse for yourself."

Sam sat in silence, gormless as he watched the air in front of him. What was there to say? He was by himself now. And he had a feeling that Santana was right and he had just made it ten times worse for himself.

* * *

For the rest of that day, Sam couldn't drown Santana's words out of his head. It was like they were a record stuck on replay, coming back to haunt his thoughts, his hopes, his dreams and his wishes.

He wanted to be with Quinn - of course he did and nothing would ever change that - but he didn't want to make her life hell either. He wanted to be with her, but he didn't want to cause her any trouble.

'_You've just made it ten times worse for yourself.'_

What did that even mean? Was she looking for revenge or was she just simply teasing how he wouldn't have access to her body anymore? He could never be sure until she acted on her words but he had a feeling that they involved Quinn too and he would hate for her to be hurt more than she already was.

After struggling to take his mind of her face, how she looked when she saw him over Finn's shoulder, Sam retreated to the changing rooms in silence. He'd was disappointed in his own game. He was falling far behind Finn in the race for the first string quarter back and he'd pretty much just proved through that training session that he wasn't ready for it yet and he probably wasn't going to play at the next game.

Sighing, he stripped himself down and showered. He then returned to change into his normal clothes when he overheard Finn and Puck speaking. It's not that they were particularly good friends anymore but they were getting along nowadays and whenever a conversation including sex was occurring, you could almost guarantee that Puck would be the first to spring at it.

"So have are you and Fabray lately?" he asked and Sam was intrigued to listen on. No, it wasn't eavesdropping. Well, at least he'd convinced himself that it wasn't but he was pretty sure that if his love was involved in a conversation between other guys, he should be obliged to listen.

Finn shrugged. "We're good… better. It's better."

Puck didn't hesitate on the matter. "What about her putting out? Have you guys been there yet?"

Clearly taken aback by the topic, Finn hesitated. "Honestly, no… I mean, every time I try and get to second base, she'll tell me that it'd be unholy or something and I'll just be like 'what?'. I mean, there was this one time that…"

Sam stopped listening after that because he didn't really care anymore. What the hell was he on about? Didn't Quinn say that she _had_ slept with him? He was utterly confused.

"… but I'm planning to woo her after prom, y'know? I mean, I haven't asked her yet but when I do I'm going to make it perfect. I've been saving up for a limo and…"

He stopped listening again. So it was true - it was all a lie. Just a stupid, useless, mind-wrecking lie. His feelings must have been visible though because by the time Puck asked him if he was okay, he had turned a pale shade of green and his hands were starting to shake. It wasn't sure was it was - anger, confusion, happiness - but he knew what it mean.

It meant that he needed to see Quinn and he needed to see her now.

He stormed out of the changing room without another word, gathering his things hastily as he shook the wetness out of his hair. He burst out of the school doors in no time, the cool wind hitting his freshly open pores. He was sure that he was going to end up with a cold after this.

It didn't feel like it took him a lot of effort to sprint to the Fabray's house because he looked at every step as if it was one closer to Quinn and that was okay because he had to sort this mess out. He had to know what was going through her head when she'd told them all those lies, what were her ulterior motives.

Because Quinn Fabray _always_ had ulterior motives. He knew her too well to ignore this. It was a part of who she was.

* * *

Banging on the door violently, he felt his face flushing red with anger as he waited for her to answer the door. What was she playing at? Did she think it was funny? All this sick games and confusing signs she was sending. He would never understand until he heard it from her mouth.

As she had been doing the past few days, she ignored the banging on the door but Sam refused to take no as an answer. Swollen with utter rage, he yelled, "Quinn Fabray, open this door right now or I _swear_ I'll open it myself!"

All of the neighbours probably heard and that was most likely to be the reason that Quinn finally answered - to calm down his riot. Sam didn't know but what he did know that she was a mess.

Quinn usually strived to look well. She was apply her makeup like a perfectionist, always choose the perfect outfit to wear and the most fitting hairstyle but today it didn't even look as if she'd brushed it. She stood in front of him in nothing but baggy grey sweatpants and a stained vest top, her hair pointing in several directions and her face bare. She looked bland and she certainly wasn't amused.

And yet she was still perfect. Every inch of her was flawless and exactly what Sam wanted, needed and craved for. She was everything he lived for and although he was conscious of his age, he was somehow certain that he would never love a girl like he had Quinn.

But even his devotion couldn't calm his rage now, not the sight of her, not anything. He was livid and he wanted answers and he wanted them now. He didn't waste any time pushing her aside so that he could burst into her own home.

"Hey!" Quinn exclaimed defensively as she fell against the wall. She slammed the door behind him. "What's wrong with-"

"_Tell me!_" Sam commanded harshly as she slammed his palms into the wall on either side of her. "Tell me what this is, Quinn, because I'm getting sick of your games!"

"Wh-… Sam, I don't know what you're talking about! I-"

He pressed his body closer to hers, ensuring that he couldn't escape. She could feel his hot breath heavy with emotion as he spoke slowly and quietly. "Finn." he stated, clearly in no mood for her act of innocence. "Why did you lie to me about you sleeping with him?"

"Sam, you're scaring me…" she whimpered as she felt his spit spray across her lips ever so slightly. It was the very first she'd ever been afraid of him. This was so out of character.

"Tell me the _truth_ this time, Quinn. Because I'm not sure whether you just can't distinguish between right and wrong or you like playing these games and I'm growing tired and bored and I just need you to… _tell me_!" he blabbered on with tears in his eyes. What was this person? He was sure it wasn't him - putting Quinn under pressure, making her afraid or him and demanding things from her. This was not who he wanted to be.

"Okay, okay, fine!" she gave up, raising her hands as a sign of surrender. "I lied, yes, I lied, Sam! Are you happy? Does that _satisfy _you?"

"No, it doesn't, Quinn! And you _know_ it doesn't because you know _me_." his vision began to blur, his throat stinging with incredible pain as he spoke to the girl he loved with such hatred in his lungs. "Why?" he whispered breathlessly after a heavy silence.

He didn't need to elaborate for Quinn to understand him. She wasn't seeing clearly with her own tears now which were already beginning to drool down her face as she pursed her lips, desperately trying to prevent them. She didn't want to look weak. She wasn't weak, she was Quinn Fabray.

But even if she was that person that never hesitated or let people get to her, she couldn't deny that she was in love. So to Sam, yeah, she was weak. And she loathed it - she hated being inferior to anyone else - but she let him. Because he was Sam and she loved him. There was nothing more to it.

"Because I want you to want me…" she cried, trying to fathom through his green lobes, desperately searching for the side of him that told her that it was okay and she didn't need to cry. But she couldn't find that person in him. Not today anyway, because he was too consumed with rage to reach out his hand. "I didn't want you to give up on me just because I was with Finn. I could _see_ you watching with, bored with these old games that we play. I needed something new, something that would enlighten you and make you want me more. Something that would pull us together."

Sam bit back his tongue before he spoke, careful as he chose his words. "But it pushed us away from each other, Quinn. It pushed us away…"

Quinn nodded and accepted the mistake. "I know and I feel _so_ awful for that."

A silence fell in between them. Only the same thought ran between both of their minds - what were they doing? They were ruining each other, only making it worse. This wasn't right. They were supposed to be together, yes, but naturally. Not like this. They shouldn't have to lie or deceive to get what they want. This wasn't the way that it should have went down.

"I don't want to play games anymore, Quinn." Sam stated defiantly, the first one to break the gap of heavy breathing and silent tears. "I'm sick of it. I just want to be us."

Quinn nodded in agreement although tears still ran down her face. "I know… but what are we if we don't have our games? If we're not so crazy in love with each other that we drive ourselves away. Isn't that… just boring?"

Sam considered it for a moment. It was true that it was never simple with them and that was the way it had always been. They'd have an argument and be on the verge of splitting when they would fall into each others arms and say sorry. That was what it had been like before they broke up the first time and nothing had changed that since.

Just as quickly as he'd began to think about it, he dismissed it, shaking his head vigorously. "No." he said in a matter-of-factly tone, "We're not boring because we're Quinn and Sam. We shouldn't have to fight and break up to feel like we need each other." he swallowed, "I love you." he whispered, "I love you so much."

He intertwined his fingers with her, watching their fingers dance in the silence as she jerked back and forward softly, tears streaming from her eyes. He loved the way their finger just fit with each other the way they did. It was so right. Why were they letting all these things keeping them apart? Something about the way she looked at him, the way they were when they were together, made everything else seemed really small. What were they hiding from?

"I love you too, Sam…" Quinn breathed, her voice music to Sam's ears. He loved those very words. "And don't you _ever_ forget it."

Sam could barely catch his breath before he crashed his lips against Quinn's. He'd forgotten how good it had felt to kiss her after all these days. It had been too long and now she had to pay the price for her absence.

Quinn kissed back equally as passionately if not more so. She pried his lips open, sliding her tongue through and painting circles with a mixture of their saliva. He released his hands from the wall beside her, pressing them against her body as they crashed into the wall together.

They struggled to get closer to each other. She pressed her hand to the back of his neck, he pulled her closer by the waist. He traced his fingers along the soft cotton of her top, desperate to touch her skin.

She raised herself from the ground so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. Sam assisted her when doing so, squeezing her thighs to get the full realisation that she was there in front of him. She ran her fingers through his hair wildly and he could feel a bulge beginning to rise underneath his jeans already.

Due to the fear of arriving too quickly, he rushed them both upstairs to the bedroom. They fell over the steps are their kissing became wetter and wetter. They couldn't pull themselves away from each other, not even if they wanted to. Because what was life if they couldn't be closer? It was nothing, that's what it was.

They fell against the soft cushions of Quinn's bed and began to undress one another instantly. It always seemed like there was too much time being spent in between kisses, not enough time to touch each other make sure it was real and not just a fantasy.

Both of them groaned in ecstasy as they created love bites on either ones body. Quinn kissed him up, down and around his torso, pressing herself closer to him every chance she could. Sam nuzzled himself into the space between his breasts, licking and sucking at every inch of skin that he had access too.

"Inside of me, _now_." Quinn demanded deadpan and she dragged his underpants down as watching his hardening flesh grow hungrier and more ridged with desire.

Sam obliged immediately and without hesitation. He slipped the condom on with assistance with Quinn. Then he slotted himself smoothly inside of her and began to rock back and forth gently but with passion. He could tell from her yells, scream and moans that she was enjoying it more than a lot.

Although they had slept together before numerous times, it had never felt like it had this time. This time was so full of passion and emotion that it out ruled every other time, making them seem like meaningless almost-there's that had never escalated into anything more. The feeling of being with each other again after all that they'd been through was so overwhelming that they couldn't say it with words. They had to use actions.

When it was done, they lay next to one each other. Their lungs were raising their chests in desperate need of air as they panted heavily, completely satisfied with what had just happened.

"Quinn…" Sam mumbled, his head spinning from all the motion. "I've made a decision."

"You have?" she breathed heavily as the sweat poured down her forehead and various other parts of her body.

He nodded, swallowing to try and catch his breath. "I love you… _more_ than my comic books."

**That was steamy, right? I knew it was steamy haha ;) After this one, I really want to know what you think. I know I made both of the characters slightly different than they're intended to be in the show in this chapter but the idea is that they change each other. I hope that's okay and not too cheesy haha! Please review and tell me what you think and of course, as always, thank you so much for reading. You don't realise how much I appreciate it :D**


	14. Chapter 14

**Before I begin this chapter, I want to tell you guys that now I have a lot of time off school for the spring break so I'll probably be updating as frequently as I have which I'm happy about because I love writing this story! Reviews will only make me go faster though hehe ;) I hope you like this chapter.**

Neither Quinn nor Sam moved from that bed for the following few hours. They just lay there together in a comfortable silence. There may not have been any words but it felt as if they were sharing secrets they'd never been told before, communicating in a way that nobody else could.

Underneath the covers, they rolled around together between the hours. They would kiss and touch without warning the other and then they would giggle at their surprised yet pleased reaction.

"I really love just being with you…" Sam mumbled after endless hours. He spoke into her skin as he sank his lips into her shoulders while she faced the opposite direction than him. Although he couldn't see her, he could feel her smile as he finished the sentence, causing him to smile himself.

She nodded after a lazy pause. "Yeah, me too…" she breathed as he slipped his hands around her naked torso, enjoying the light yet tempting touch of his fingertips.

Sam laughed quietly despite his thoughts maybe not so innocent, causing Quinn to question his laughter. "What is it?" she asked, a smile growing on her own face.

He shrugged. "It's just…" he sighed blissfully, "we've had sex more times in this relationship than we did when we were properly together… which was like, never."

Quinn bit her lip. "I needed you." she admitted, "I was craving you. I thought I was confused about loving you when I made out with Finn but being away from you made me realise how wrong I really was."

They didn't speak again for a while after that. Sam those words sink in, the words that he had been longing to hear from her all along, the words that put him at peace. She loved him and he knew it. She loved him and he loved her too.

It took an hour or so before Sam realised that the girl beside him had drifted into a peaceful sleep. He smiled at the serenity in her face, touching the side of her cheek with his finger wistfully. Then, with one more glance as he was passing out of the room, he headed to take a shower.

* * *

When Sam re-entered the room wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, he realised that Quinn had now retreated to the window sill whilst wearing nothing but the T-shirt he head been wearing when he arrived at her house.

She didn't even flinch as he approached her, but she knew that he was there. She just continued to stare out of the window, completely gormless. Sam thought that she looked sad. Sad but beautiful.

"Hey…" he whispered so not to scare her thoughts away, "what are you thinking about?"

There was a longer than usual pause before she answered. "How can something so right be so wrong?" she asked, more rhetorically than to Sam if she was being honest. It had been playing on her mind for the last few days. This had been where she had sat whilst she was absent from school, staring out of the window and reflecting on anything that had happened in these passing few weeks. It petrified her when she realised that it wasn't just a dream but just her reality. Just your average day in Quinn Fabray's world.

Sam sighed and sad beside her, slipping at arm around her waist. She didn't moved, she just continued to sit with her knees held up against her chest, flipping her cell phone around in her hands.

"You need to stop blaming yourself for everything." he told her, shaking his head as she held a pained look on her face. "Anything that happens, I participated too. You're not the only one, Quinn. And… I've never wanted anything so much in my life except you."

Quinn seemed nonplussed by his answer. She lay the side of her forehead on the cool window pain and watched the rain drizzling down the window. She felt so contained in this little town; Sam was her only escape.

Sam glanced over at Quinn's bedside table, his eyes searching for one particular object. He found it almost straight away and bounced up to retrieve it. He picked up the small, white box with golden lining with care and carried it over to the girl on the window sill. He then got on one knee again with a goofy grin on his face.

Quinn didn't directly look at him but she could still see him in her peripheral vision which caused her to grin. She reminisced on the first time he'd asked her to accept this ring. "Sam." she moaned in a childish voice as if she was begging him to stop but they both knew that she secretly adored it when he acted this way.

"No, listen to this…" he chuckled, trying to get her to look in his eyes. Reluctantly, she averted her gaze from the falling raindrops but nevertheless stared right into his eyes. "This ring symbolises," he began after clearing his throat and trying to suppress a grin, "my promise to you to be true. To never pressure you into anything more than a kiss. To listen to your problems. To tell you when you have food in your teeth or eye gunk. To come over to your house whenever you need something super heavy moved around. I promise to make you feel proud when you point down the hall and say, 'That dude's my boyfriend'. I promise to do all of those things."

Quinn giggled uncontrollably. "How many times did you practice that?" she asked but she had a feeling she could make a pretty accurate assumption due to the fact that the last time he performed it to her had been months ago.

"Many, many times…" he admitted whilst flushing red. "I could probably say it in my sleep."

Another comfortable silence fell between them as Quinn looked away from the window again. Sam watched her, wishing that he could take a picture of her. He'd never seen something so picturesque even if she did look a mess to the untrained eye. He could see her personality radiating from her. He thought she was beautiful and that's all that mattered.

"So…" he sighed after some time, "did I do good?"

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "What?" she asked confusedly, watching him as he stood up from his kneeling position on the floor beside her and sat opposite her on the window sill.

"Did I do good?" he repeated in a different tone, "Did I keep all of my promises by your standards?"

Laughing, Quinn turned around from him. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Yes…" she spoke quietly after a long pause, "every single one of them."

A lop-sided smile appeared on Sam's face again. "Few," he sighed melodramatically, pretending to wipe sweat of his forehead, "I was worried about the one where I wasn't supposed to pressure you into anything more than a kiss."

She giggled again, crawling over to him and sitting in between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her chest and kissed her forehead. "You did good, Sam. I've wanted you every time, so you don't need to worry."

Unable to wipe the grin of his face, Sam opened the box again and took out the ring. He slipped it onto the correct finger when she wasn't looking, causing her to smile at the sight of it again. Ever since they'd broken up, she'd refused to put it back on. She saw it as a way of admitting her weakness, it brought back memories that she'd rather forget in order to move on. So every night she would just look at it until she fell asleep. It was refreshing to have it where it belonged again.

"There," Sam said, "perfect."

Quinn continued to toss her cell phone in her hands. After a while, she spoke. "Finn just called…" she admitting, killing the romantic mood as she felt Sam go ridged behind her.

"Oh really?" he asked stiffly and without amusement, "What did he say?"

Quinn hesitated before speaking. She played with his ring on her finger, spinning it around and making her skin feel tight. "He asked me to the prom."

This time, Sam shifted uncomfortably. He didn't want Quinn to turned around and see his reaction because he looked distraught and racked with jealousy. "Oh… and what did you say?" he asked the questioned plainly, clearly trying to display no interest in the topic as he would have preferred not to speak about it. He didn't really want to know what he assumed she was going to say.

Quinn sighed. "I told him I'll answer him later. This has to stop, Sam. I can't continue like this anymore."

Sam didn't hide the fact that he was pleasantly surprised by this revelation as his eyebrows rose close to his hairline, but he still bit his lip in worry. He had always anticipated the moment that he could have Quinn completely to himself yet now that he was sure the moment was nearing, he was unsure how it would go down.

He thought and thought about it, leaving a pregnant pause between them. He thought about how much he wanted Quinn and then he thought about how much he wanted to make her happy and realised that they could be parallel, depending on the way that you looked at the situation. If he left her to be with Finn, she would go to prom with him and probably win prom queen, a dream of hers since she was a little girl. If he let her break up with him and took her to prom himself, her chances at prom queen will have narrowed greatly.

The only thing he knew was that he loved her and he would do anything for her. And if it pleased her, he would go to the end of the earth to find some type of flower that never existed, or spend every penny he'd ever earned on a dress that she would probably never wear. It didn't matter, as long as she was happy.

"Say something, Sam…" Quinn whispered with a clear desperation in her voice, "please."

There was another tiny pause which felt like hours to Quinn as he felt her throat tightening whilst waiting for his answer. Finally, Sam spoke up but only quietly so.

"Don't break up with him yet." he answered deadpan.

To begin with, Quinn wasn't sure how to react. She just jerked slightly from her position in between his legs and raised an eyebrow. "What?" she finally spat questioningly, turning around to face him with a look of disbelief.

Sam shrugged, pouting his bottom lip slightly. "You heard what I said, Quinn, I'm not going to repeat it. I don't want you to break up with him yet."

Quinn scoffed out of disbelief. "Okay, who are you and what did you do with the Sam Evans that was practically praying for me to break up with Finn?" she giggled sarcastically.

Sam allowed a small smirk but it was more forced than anything. This was difficult for him because it's not what he actually wanted - it was what he wanted for Quinn. "I think it just needs a little more time." he lied convincingly, "If you leave it until a week or so after prom, then no one will suspect a thing."

She knitted her eyebrows together. "I'm a very impatient person, Sam." Quinn warned him sternly, "Think about what you're saying here. Do you really want that?"

He wanted to say no, but he couldn't. He looked at the ring on her finger. He thought about the person she was, what she'd been through and who she'd had to defeat to get it. He truly believed that if anyone deserved prom queen, it was her. She was strong and beautiful yet she was fragile and flawed. She'd been at the top and then kicked to the bottom, only to rise again. This time he was going to make sure that he was the one to catch her when she fell.

"Honestly, Quinn. Besides, even if you did break up with him now, do you really think that anyone would just accept the fact that I 'randomly' asked you to prom? We wouldn't be able to go together."

Quinn didn't want to believe what he was saying. She didn't want to admit that he had a point but she knew that he did. If there was anyone she felt like she could trust, it was him, especially after all they'd been through together. She knew that he wouldn't let her down when it came to making a moral decision like this.

Sighing happily, she turned around again and fell back into his arms. Sam took this as an agreement as she rubbed the moist skin on his bare thigh which was now showing from the towel.

"I might be going to prom with Finn but you'll be my real date, Sam."

* * *

It took a while but eventually Sam had managed to convince Quinn that coming back to school would be a good thing. He told her that when she showed her face again, people would realise that she was no pushover. He told her that those people, the ones that make fun of her or shout rude insults, only did that stuff because they had nothing better to do. When they saw her again, they'd be sorry. She couldn't let them get the best of her.

And so, the following Monday, she showed up promptly on time, watching jaws drop as she strutted down the hallway on Finn's arm. She didn't even look at Santana throughout the whole day. She felt as if she didn't need to. It's not as if the girl had anything against her anymore. Not now that she didn't have Sam anymore, anyway.

During lunchtime, Quinn had chosen to take a trip to the library. She hadn't been there in a while, and she wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she actually liked it there. It was always quiet and peaceful, assuming you didn't go in on the odd day when the lower ranked members of the Glist were throwing a flash mob or a particular Asian couple were having an argument. She didn't read much but she enjoyed looking back on the school yearbooks from years and years ago. She looked at the faces and the groups that they were involved in, trying to match them up with a personality or compare them to other students in the school. It was a sad hobby, true, but there was a small satisfaction in it.

And that satisfaction was that she could get the more recent year books out and reminisce on the days before her pregnancy. She could look at the pictures of her and Coach Sylvester with wide smiles out on a sunny football pitch. She could see herself at the top of that pyramid again where her fellow Cheerios gazed at her in awe. She could remember the times when she was the one making the rules and giving out the orders.

Sometimes, she wished it would be like that again. It would certainly secure her as prom queen because back then people were too scared to insult her, even behind her back. They were afraid it would get back to her and she was admired too.

But then if it was like that, she probably wouldn't have Sam. In fact, she'd probably still be with Finn. She'd probably be telling herself that she loved him yet she probably still wouldn't have put out for him. She was still a bitch and she admitted that but she was glad that she'd toned down since then, even if it cost her the popularity she once used to have.

After pulling out what looked like an ancient yearbook from the 70s, Quinn let out a small gasp as she saw a face peering through the space in between the books again. She lay a hand upon her beating heart once she realised that she was Noah Puckerman.

"'Sup, MILF." he greeted her with his usual wide grin.

She scowled at him. He might have held her heart at one point but there was no doubt that if there was anyone beside Sam that could drive her temper wild, it was that boy right there. "Not today, Puck." Quinn warned him sternly. She shoved the book back in it's place so that she could no longer see his face and hurried down to the end of the aisle.

It was too late though, because by the time she got there, Puck was already waiting for her with his hands in his pockets. "Hey, I'm just trying to be friendly!" Puck defended himself with a slight pout, "Besides, I need to talk to you."

Quinn shot him a harsh glare. "I'm sure it can't be anything important since most of the conversations we've had were about sex, my increase in weight or the reign of the super Mario brothers."

Puck laughed and then sighed wistfully. "Ah… good times, good times." Quinn rolled her eyes and began to walk away until he pulled her back by the arm, bringing her directly face to face with him. "No, I'm serious, Quinn." he pleaded, "I've got something on my mind."

Quinn's shoulders sagged as she surrendered. "Okay then…" she murmured, walking over to a table nearby where they sat opposite one another. "What is then that's so important? Because I'm a busy girl."

Noah didn't hesitate. "What's going on with you and Evans?"

The abruptness of the question certainly took Quinn aback but she didn't dwell on it. Although she was terribly surprised that it had been Noah Puckerman of all people to suspect something, she had been planning this situation in her head. "What about us? We were together, we broke up, now I'm with Finn."

The Mohawked boy shook his head with a serious look in his eye. "You know that's not what I'm talking about, Quinn. There's something going on between you two. I would know, I've done it millions of times."

"Wh-… what?" Quinn whisper-yelled, still conscious on their surroundings. It would be pretty embarrassing if the librarian overheard this conversation. "You think I'm fooling around with him? Puck, that's an insult!"

He shrugged. "Not really. You did it to Finn with me, you did to Sam with Finn. I don't see why you wouldn't do it again."

Quinn's heart was beating fast but she didn't let on to it. "I don't have time for this." she mumbled, avoiding eye contact as she tried to stand but Puck pulled her back down by the hand again.

"Look, Quinn. I know that's it's weird because I'm, like, a total stud and everything but I know you and I know that look in your eye. You look at him as if only you two know something. I saw you guys talking and Regionals."

Quinn tried her best to keep a poker face but she was screaming inside and it was becoming increasingly difficult by the seconds. Finally she sighed. "Okay, I'd be lying if I said I didn't still have feelings for him. I mean, come on - we practically wished our lives away together. I thought I was going to marry him!" she smiled despite herself but Puck took it more as a smile that displayed her amusement for her naivety, "But even if I did want him back, he wouldn't want me now. He broke up with me, remember?"

"You're forgetting the fact that you had drunken sex, though…" Puck grinned as if he was imagining it, causing Quinn to feel revolted. "And sex can change _everything_."

Quinn shook her head. "You wasn't there, Puck. You don't know the first thing about me and Sam, or that night." she shook her head in disbelief, standing from the chair again. He began to make her way to the door when his large hand rested on her shoulder. It wasn't as if he was pulling her back but she felt the need to halt.

"I know you, Quinn." he repeated in a the most serious tone she'd ever heard him speak through, "Don't forget that."

Quinn was secretly thanking God that he couldn't see her face right then because it was utterly guilt-ridden. She bit her lip in an attempt not to whimper. Things were falling apart faster as the days went on.

"Goodbye, Puck." she murmured, shuffling out of the library with her head down. Puck shook his head as he watched her go. He retreated out of the other entrance on the opposite side of the library where he found his fellow Jew waiting for her.

"Get anything out of her?" Rachel asked enthusiastically as soon as she realised his presence.

Puck looked down at his shoes. This was wrong and he knew it. Finn was his friend and he owed him some payback time after sleeping with Quinn and he'd convinced himself that was the motives of this operation. But he knew that it wasn't. He'd given up on Lauren long ago because she wasn't what he wanted anymore. He was fooling himself - he wanted Quinn back. And if that meant shaming her away from Sam and using that to break her up with Finn, then he'd do it.

He looked up again, refusing eye contact with Rachel. "Lets walk."

**Puck, Puck, Puck… haha! I adore him, I have to say, but I'm thinking I've made him a little more interesting here. At least, I hope you guys think that. I put a lot of effort into this chapter because I wasn't really sure how to word it. I was going to write a scene with Puck and Rachel where they came up with this plan to break Finn and Quinn apart using Sam but I couldn't get it right. I think it takes me a lot of effort to make both Puck and Rachel's personalities believable separately so it's double that when I write them in a scene together! Anyway, ignoring my blabbering. I hope you liked the chapter. Please review, I'd really like to know what you think of this whole Puck and Rachel scheme!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey! By the reviews, I'm glad all of you seem to approve of this whole Puck/Rachel scheme but I want to know what you guys would think of a possible Puckleberry endgame? I mean, usually I'm a St Berry shipper but I'm really starting to warm to the idea of this couple. And it also looks quite possible with where I plan to go with this story… anyway, tell me in a review please! Oh, and enjoy this chapter - IT'S PROM TIME! And it's super long hehe.**

Quinn couldn't believe it had actually arrived - prom night.

She'd never been so anxious in her entire life. She spent the whole day reminiscing on how she used to dream of this night when she was just a little girl, taking an extremely long shower and primping herself so much that her face could have been permanently painted onto the mirror.

She sighed with bliss as she lay the dress out in front of her on her bed. In a small town like Lima, there wasn't many stores around where girls could pick things like prom dresses. There was a wedding store or two and a few high street boutiques but none of them offered anything which was acceptable by Quinn's standards of prom dresses. She'd spent too many hours of her lives flipping through books and internet pages to tolerate tacky, colourful explosions.

Tonight was not a night of exceptions though. She went to all lengths to make sure that she stood out tonight, even if it meant calling her aunt who lived in New York and sending her money to buy her a dress which pretty much bankrupt her. She spent all of her birthday money since she was 8, all of her savings and her weekly pocket money which she got from her mom. It was only after she'd thought it out that she realised how lame that really sounded but at least she could guarantee that she looked the part of a prom queen.

And it certainly was the dress of her dreams. It was a glamorous floor length gown made out of a rich silk material. It was blood red and it was sexy but also elegant. It glistened when it caught the light and had a simple but beautiful structure. She had to pat herself on the back just to make sure it was real. She'd even asked for Kurt's opinion when she showed him a picture whilst at Finn's house and he was certainly impressed by it's classiness. It made her sick to think that without this dress, she may well have been wearing a 'Betty's Weddings' original.

Even Judy Fabray took it out of her usual regime of 'ignore my daughter' to help her prepare for the big night. She couldn't say no to a day of spending hours with the curling iron or the mascara brush, even if it was with what she saw (but would never admit to it) as a disappointment of a daughter.

Her mother had also insisted that Finn gave Quinn the opportunity to walk down the staircase to meet him, as they did in all of those teen flick movies. Quinn wasn't thrilled by the idea but nevertheless she agreed; anything to please her mom, right? It was awfully awkward for her as she saw the look on Finn's face but she did feel like a prom queen at that moment, so she embraced it. She was ready for this.

"You look beautiful…" Finn commented in awe as he took her hand when she reached the end of the stairs._ Oh, how cliché…_ Quinn thought but she smiled her way through and whispered a thank you before her mom rushed to take pictures of them. Those would be the ones hanging around the halls by next week, Quinn concluded. Her mother wanted their visitors to see the good side of her daughter.

Finn had prepared the transportation to the big event. He himself had been saving up and had managed to rent out a limo for the ride to the school. It was your averagely cliché moment. Quarterback boyfriend takes his head cheerleader (or rather former) girlfriend to prom in a sleek black limo with Champaign and wine coolers. Quinn preferred to stay away from the wine coolers though - they were a nasty reminder of the past.

Quinn wasn't particularly excited about the prospect of acting as if she was happy at prom with Finn but at least all she had to do to achieve her dream of prom queen was cling to his arm, smile and wave for the entire night. It was simple math.

The McKinley school gym had been transformed. Glistening lights hung from various points of the ceiling and around the walls. Tables draped in pure white cloth had been orderly placed against the walls, serving snacks and punch. A stage had also been put up on one of the walls with a deep red show curtain hung around it's semicircle shape. Quinn knew from the moment she walked in that it would be where prom king and queen would be announced and called up.

Many people also set their gazes on Quinn the moment she walked in. There was no doubt that she looked stunning. A lot of the girls were pissed off that their dates were staring at her rather than themselves but they were certainly in awe of her. It was almost as if a respect for her had been building around the school the past week or so and now she was finally coming to terms with it. So, she did what any prom queen would - she strutted past them proudly with Finn and a malicious grin hanging on her crimson red lips.

As the couple made their way further into the gym to meet up with their usual crowd of friends, Quinn caught a awestruck Sam in her peripheral vision. She immediately turned to look at him to find him standing with his mouth gaping open in wonder.

Allowing herself a small but secretive smile, she nodded at him and then turned away. She didn't want him to see her biting her lip at how incredibly hot he looked in a black tux. Of course, she'd seen him that way at Carole and Burt's wedding but there was something much more appealing about it when they held a secret. She would certainly catch up with him in secret later in the evening, she decided.

Sam stood with his hands in his pockets as he watched awkward freshmen trying to grind on the dance floor and some of the older students shaking their head and feeling embarrassed for them. He would so rather be at home playing video games or reading some classic comic books.

He sighed. It had been decision to tell Quinn to go to prom with Finn so he wouldn't let himself regret it, but he certainly did feel lonely as hell. Watching everyone else having a good time wasn't so bad, but watching Quinn have a good time was. It was difficult for him to see her happy without him. He wanted to be the one causing her joy, making her laugh. He wanted to dance with her. He wanted to tell her that she looked beautiful.

But he couldn't and he was trying to come to terms with that. He slugged behind his friends from the football team, occasionally plastering a smile on his face when someone greeted him or made a joke that he didn't really find funny. Eventually, he'd tired of this so much that he'd made an excuse to leave and then had creeped over to the ballot boxes to vote for his choice of prom queen and king.

When he arrived at the ballot boxes, he found a bunch of giggling Glee girls surrounding the box where you could vote for prom queen. Santana was one of them and Sam knew that this couldn't be anything good, meaning that it was probably a threat to Quinn's chances of getting prom queen.

"Hey… what are you guys doing?" he asked, trying to seem genuinely innocent.

Santana glanced over at him with a scowl but nevertheless answered honestly. "Fixing the vote. Wanna help us?"

Sam raised a questioning eyebrow. "What do you mean 'fixing'?" he asked suspiciously.

Santana rolled her eyes. "We're stuffing the ballot with votes for Lauren Zizies. Can you _imagine_ Quinn's face when she looses to a girl on the wrestling team? It'll be _price-less_."

"She's right, it's gonna be awesome…" Lauren piped in.

Sam was about to yell out something about how Santana should stop being a bitch all the time but then he realised that he would be giving up a cover and he had a chance to fix things here.

So, although it pained him, he just laughed it off and shook his head. "Funny…" he mumbled, trying to be convincing, "no, I don't want to help but you… enjoy that."

He had to mentally chastise himself as he walked away. He would return to that box later and sort some things out.

…

When Sam did return to the ballot box, he surprised to find a suspicious-looking Noah Puckerman lurking around the same area. They approached the box together and then halted before each other.

"Puck…" Sam mumbled confusedly, "W-What are you doing?"

Puck's mouth of gaping open slightly as if he was trying to think of something to say. Sam hoped he hadn't been this bad when he had been trying to lie about things in the past, and by certain things he meant him and Quinn.

"N-Nothing!" Puck finally cleared his throat and blurted out. He grinned and let out an awkward laugh as he averted his gaze from Sam and slipped his hands into his pockets. "I was just… coming to, cast my vote? You know… prom queen and everything."

It was a decent explanation but Sam didn't believe it. He didn't let on to it though because he just nodded and smiled. "Go ahead then." he gestured towards the box with a smug grin.

Noah hesitated for a minute before sighing and then taking a piece of paper. He cast his vote, then nodded awkwardly at his team mate and left.

Sam's eyebrows were knitted together tightly as he watched the Mohawked boy scurry off whilst cursing to himself. "Strange…" he mumbled under his breath. He then cautiously took a glance from side to side before picking up the box and hurrying off to somewhere that he couldn't be found.

…..

"You're hopeless!" Rachel chastised Puck as he held his head down. "I mean, how am I supposed to cooperate with you when you clearly cannot take care of a simple task? Really, Noah, all I asked was that you stuff the box with votes for her, I didn't-"

"Hey, chill out okay?" Puck snapped in a defensive tone as they hid in the shadows of the gym. "I tried my best but how could these fingers work any of their normal magic with Sam there?"

Rachel scoffed but only because she didn't have a witty retort. "Well, if you want a job done right you better do it yourself. I expect you to meet me back here in 15 minutes on the dot. Is that clear?" she commanded. Puck didn't have a chance to answer before she jetted off in the opposite direction.

….

"Excuse me? E-Excuse me?" a nervous-looking Mrs Pillsbury stammered into the microphone before tapping it to check that it was on. "Can I have your attention please?"

Quinn's head whipped around instantly. She'd been idly glancing over at the clock for the past hour and a half or so, praying for half past nine to near. She'd also ensured that her and Finn held a place at the front of the crowd surrounding the stage by dragging him over about five minutes early. This was it - the moment that could make or break her.

"On behalf of all of the staff at McKinley, we want to thank you all for attending tonight and we also hope that you've enjoyed it so far. But now," Mrs Pillsbury cleared her throat and wide grin appeared on her face, "it's time for the moment you've all been waiting for. If you could all listen attentively because we are about to announce your Junior year Prom King and Queen!" she exclaimed excitedly.

The students in the crowd clapped, some with more enthusiasm than others. Quinn could feel her heart beating hard in her chest. She tried to calm herself down and prepare herself for disappointment but she couldn't help it. She was just too pumped.

A golden envelope was passed to Emma and she held a broad grin as she carefully removed it and pulled out a card with a name on. "And your prom king is…" she began. The students began to stamp their feet on the ground to build momentum. "Sam Evans!"

Everything was silent for a moment. The entire room stopped causing Quinn to feel nautious. She heard one of Emma's assistants on stage mumble something like "he wasn't even nominated". She didn't care though. Her heart was beating so fast that she could barely notice it.

Sam was in a similar stance to the rest of the room apart from the fact that they were all looking at him. If it hadn't been for Emma calling his name in the microphone multiple times to make sure he was present, he probably wouldn't have moved.

…..

"Where is he? Why isn't he on the stage already?" Rachel whisper-yelled although she was speaking to herself more than she was speaking to Puck who was rolling his eyes beside her.

"Chill, Rachel. Seriously, he's probably just surprised." he shook his head. She was so uptight sometimes.

Rachel nodded. "Y-Yes…" she stammered. "Puck, I have something to tell you." she said with a guilty tone as she watched Sam approach Mrs Pillsbury with a bewildered and incredibly awkward smile plastered on his face. He looked awfully out of place as the crown was placed on his head.

Puck suddenly felt his stomach drop. He knew this couldn't be good. "Yes?"

"And his queen is…" the another golden envelope was passed to Emma.

"I-I couldn't fix the prom queen ballot box. It was gone by the time I got there… I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to fail and after the way I shouted at you for failing I thought that-"

"Quinn Fabray!"

…

Quinn's heart completely stopped this time. She could feel Finn glaring at her as she tried to catch her breath. She stared at the floor gormless. It couldn't be true, could it? Probably her ears playing up again.

But then she looked up at an expectant Mrs Pillsbury and realised that this was, in fact, reality. Her stomach twisted in a painful way as she imagined the awkwardness of standing there with Sam while Finn watched. She felt guilty already.

Then, she remembered that this was prom and she'd just achieved her dream. She was going to be queen bee again. People clearly respected her if they had chosen to vote for her, right?

_Right,_ she told herself mentally as she plastered the most Hollywood grin on her smacker you could ever imagine. She looked at Finn apologetically before prancing to the steps of the stage, holding her posture like a real Queen.

All the while she was approaching him, her gaze was locked on Sam as his was on her. It was if they were mentally communicating with each other. Quinn was getting across the message quite clearly from the sternness of her glaze: _'This was not supposed to happen'_ she was saying and Sam agreed.

She nodded at him once before waiting for the tiara to be placed on her head. It felt awesome, yeah, and she looked great too… but it wasn't the thrill she'd expected. It didn't make her feel complete the way she thought it would yet she felt incredible, as if she _was_ complete.

"This is confusing…" Sam whispered through the side of her mouth as the crowd cheered and Emma watched them with her hands clasped together.

Quinn accepted the bouquet off one of the faculty. It was huge - there was dozen's of red roses in there and they matched perfectly with her dress as she waved to their audience. "Believe me, no one's more confused than me…" he replied.

"Well!" Emma sighed happily into the microphone once the awkward cheering had calmed down. "Now I suppose we better move on for the Prom King and Queen's first dance…" she turned to Quinn and Sam who suddenly appeared ridged, "so if you to would like to…" she gestured to the dance floor and didn't have to say anymore.

Quinn glanced at Sam and then at Finn who looked utterly distraught. She cleared her throat and then began to make her way to the now-emptying dance floor. Sam followed behind her, catching her hand whilst she was off guard.

"Sam!" she whispered in a scornful tone. "Don't… please."

Sam ignored her command and kept a tight hold on her hand. "We're Prom Queen and King now, people will understand."

Quinn looked over in Finn's direction once again. "I don't think everybody will." she sighed but allowed him to remain holding her hand anyway as he lead her to the spotlight with a bright grin smothering his face.

A soft and gentle piece of music began to play and Quinn could feel the whole gym watching her with wide eyes. She tried to ignore them by looking into Sam's eyes - and it worked. He held her in a dancing position like a perfect gentleman, holding one of her hands high in the air and his other hand occupying her waist but not too low.

"Is this okay for you?" he whispered. Quinn swallowed, slightly weary from his touch whilst in such a public place, but nevertheless she nodded.

"Yes." she finally choked after a break of silence. "It feels great."

At that moment, Quinn realised something. The reason Prom Queen didn't really feel as good as she thought it would was because of one reason - Sam. She suddenly understood that the reason she was ecstatic about this wasn't because of the tiara or the flattering photographs and beautiful flowers; it was because she had the opportunity to share this moment with Sam and nothing could please her more than he could.

In the past, Quinn had convinced herself she was in love with guys. She'd swore to herself that Finn was her first love. She believed that she'd been in love with Puck after he took her under her arm during the whole baby drama. Even when she was dating Sam before all of this mess, she thought she loved him. When she didn't.

At least, not then anyway. _This_ was love; the way she felt just being close to him. They didn't have to speak or touch erotically. They didn't even have to touch in fact. All they needed to do was make eye contact and she would be weak at the knees.

And she would do anything for him. He made her so happy even when she was in some of the worst situations imaginable. When she could be with him, nothing really mattered. He made everything she was worrying about seem so small until he was gone again.

"I love you." she whispered, no longer afraid of who would hear although no one did anyway.

Sam smiled softly and watching her intently as she slipped her arms around his kneck and allowed him to move his down to her waist. "I love you too." he replied, his smile now becoming proud and bold. "Nothing's changing here."

Quinn nodded with a heavy sigh as the dance floor began to repopulate again, other people joining in the dance for the remainder of the song. "No, but I mean… I _really_ love you. I thought I'd loved before, but I was wrong." she reiterated her thoughts with a passion. She adored the way she could be so open with Sam, knowing that he would never judge her.

He nodded. "It's how I've been feeling all along."

Quinn laughed slightly as she fluttered her eyelids, causing Sam to ask what was so funny. "Remember the day when we spoke and you didn't realise that I'd been wearing your ring at the locker?" Sam nodded, "You've done the same again. But nobody noticed - I'm wearing your ring tonight."

Sam's heart stopped as he glanced at her finger draped around his kneck. The diamond within the gold glistened in the low flickering from the twinkling lights and it fit her finger perfectly without a doubt. He swallowed as he bit back the passionate urge to kiss her or pulled her even closer.

"I couldn't bring myself to take it off. It just looks so right."

….

"Is he looking? Is Finn looking?" Rachel pestered Puck, tapping him on the shoulder. She was too afraid to look at Finn in fear that he might catch her.

Puck sighed. "Yes, he's definitely looking… mission complete." he offered a hand for Rachel to high five to which she responded.

"Yes!" she exclaimed with joy. "Does he look jealous?"

Puck nodded immediately. "You bet'cha; He's freakin' furious over there!"

Rachel allowed herself a malicious cackle. "This is working better than I expected… and I didn't even have to make sure that Quinn won."

"Yeah…" Puck sighed again, "looks like someone had already done that for you." he murmured, his gaze focused on Sam who was consumed in Quinn.

…..

"You know, when I went over to cats my vote, I saw some girls fixing it so that you didn't win…" Sam admitted as the song slowed to halt and they were left in the midst of the now packed and illuminating dance floor. Quinn listened to him intently. "I couldn't bare to think of you loosing, so I did the job myself. You're the only prom queen for me."

A flustered look came over Quinn. She was utterly flattered, one hand resting on her chest as she tried to process his words. "Sam… that's probably the greatest thing any guy has ever done for me."

A lop-sided smile appeared on Sam's face, reaching right up to his eyes. "Well…" he murmured, staring at her hand. He just couldn't take his eyes off that ring. "You deserved it, Quinn. I knew how much it meant to you and I know what you've been through to get back on top. No one's had it more difficult than you."

Quinn scoffed. "Oh, it could've been worse…" she responded honestly, "but thank you so much, Sam. You really don't understand how much that meant to me."

Sam was about to reply with a comment about how much he loved her and the lengths he could go to until he saw Finn approaching in his peripheral vision. He decided it was better not to, as he was probably into earshot now so he awkwardly cleared his throat and stepped aside.

And by God, Finn did not look happy. Quinn never usually saw him jealous. He wasn't that kind of guy but right now he could've been glowing green and it would've seemed totally normal in comparison to his body language and facial expression.

"Uhm," Sam began awkwardly, "I-I believe this is your date so I guess I'll just… hand her back to you." he stammered before planting a soft kiss on Quinn's hand. "It was nice to speak to you again, Quinn." he finished before jetting off in another direction. Before Quinn could even count to three, he's vanished through the humungous crowd.

The loathing facial expression on Finn's face remained as Quinn turned to face him again. She bit her lip unsurely, not quite knowing what to say. Finally, she cleared her throat and squeezed his hand. "Hey…" she mumbled, "are you okay?"

He certainly didn't look but nevertheless he nodded. "Yeah… yeah, I am. Come on, lets get out of here."

…..

A few hours later, Quinn found herself at home in front of her mirror again. Finn had dropped her off at the doorstep and kissed her lightly but nothing more. She wouldn't invite him in because she knew what he would suspect from it and he wouldn't get it.

Her mother had pestered her to see the picture of her and Finn that the professional photographer at the prom had taken of them. Immediately, it had been placed in a frame and then on Quinn's beside table. It was a nice picture, Quinn had to admit but she would've much rather it have been Sam with his arm around her waist.

She took care when removing her tiara and other accessories. She hadn't wiped her makeup off or undressed just yet though. She wanted to stay like that for a little while longer. Not many girls can say that they'd conquered the entire high school and danced with their true love all in one night. It was a fantasy rather than a reality, especially considering that most of the girls her age hadn't even fallen in love though they might believe they had.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a strange tapping noise sounded from her window. Raising an eyebrow, she approached the noise with suspicion. It seemed as if rocks were being thrown at her window. Nervously, she released the hatch on the window and peered out only to find Sam Evans pacing her underneath her window.

"Sam!" she giggled, praying that her mom wouldn't be able to hear. "Are you insane?"

Sam's face lit up the moment he saw her. The prom had ended a few hours ago and it was about midnight now so he seemed a little more casual - his blazer was no where to seen, he had loosened his tie and undid some of the buttons on his dress shirt. Quinn being Quinn was immediately turned on by his 'messy' look.

"Quinn! Hey!" he chuckled as he turned around.

"What are you doing here?" Quinn exclaimed whilst giggling. There was a soft and tender tone to her voice that drove Sam wild every time he heard it. There was something terribly attractive about a girl who could express how much she cared for him just by the way she spoke.

"Well, I needed to see you again…" he admitted shyly as he began to climb up the side of the house to Quinn's bedroom. "I was reading my comic books but I couldn't concentrate, you were all I could think about. Tonight was so awesome. You was right when you said it would feel just as good as 'a lil' something something'."

Quinn giggled despite herself, remembering that when Sam seemed to have been pressuring her into something more in their early days of dating. "And yet you're here for…?" there was a lingering tone on the end of her words, as if she was meaning to finish the sentence but both of them knew what he was here for.

"Because I love you." Sam responded teasingly as he pulled himself up on her window sill.

"Hm." Quinn scoffed, "And what about my mom?" she asked as she pulled the window wide open for him so that he could fit through.

"Oh, that's easy. I happen to know that you have a lock on your door and soundproof walls. I also happen to know that you're mom is waking up and leaving early tomorrow morning for a business trip."

Shaking her head, Quinn sighed. Sam knew her too well nowadays. He could get around anything as long as it resulted in them being together. Once he was through the gap, she closed and locked the window again, doing the same to the door. Then, she approached him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately before they fell on the bed and began to undress.

**I hope that wasn't too cheesy for you guys haha! There was a lot of things in this chapter that I was really struggling to fit in. I realise that a lot goes on here and I didn't want to confuse myself or the readers when I was writing it so I couldn't cut it down as much. Just to clarify in case it is a little confusing: Puck & Rachel's plan was to make Quinn and Sam win prom king and queen so that F8inn would suspect something. That's one of the reasons it's so long but I wanted it to be special because I know how important prom is to Quinn, in this fic and in the TV show. Speaking of the show, I'm dying here… I can't cope with another two weeks of waiting haha! Anyway, please review and thanks for reading.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Wow! I really want to thank you guys this time around for all those lovely reviews… like, **_**really**_**. It's so sweet of you! And I liked how a few of you said it was your favourite chapter so far because I was worried in case it was a bit cliché. Hopefully I'll be able to better it though! I can foreshadow drama in this chapter… enjoy!**

The following day, both Sam and Quinn woke up in the later hours of the morning and then chose to lounge underneath the covers rather than moving. They sat and talked in a way that they had been doing often, discussing topics such as school, home, friends and feelings, reiterating for the millionth time how much they loved each other.

After the hours began to tick away faster than they'd wished for and the time of Quinn's mom returning came nearer, Sam finally pulled together all the will power he could to roll away from Quinn and out of the sheets.

"Where are you going?" Quinn mumbled like a whiney child as she followed him to the edge of the bed. She stopped him from getting up by holding him firmly around his shoulder. She caressed his warm morning skin, planting gentle kisses in his favourite stops.

Sam grumbled with desire whilst embracing Quinn's touch. It took him all his energy to close his eyes and escape her grasp. "I need to go and get a shower…" he sighed unhappily, trying to push all the excuses to stay out of his head. "Is that okay?"

Quinn nodded disappointedly and pouted her bottom lip slightly. "Yeah, okay." she agreed as she turned over under the sheets and stretched. "But be quick, my mom will be home in a few hours and I have to shower too."

He nodded and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before walking out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom with his clothes in one arm. He sighed as he slipped through the door and his surroundings became the elegant black and white of the Fabray's 2nd story bathroom. Sam's parents weren't poor, but they certainly didn't have the kind of money that Quinn's family possessed. It was a long trip from Dudley Road to his house.

Sighing, he turned to face himself in the mirror. Last night had been pretty heavy. After telling his mom that he was going to stay at a friends over the phone, he already felt tired. He'd then begun the trip to Quinn's house with his eyes threatening to close over on him. When he'd finally arrived, the presence of Quinn had set his senses alight but by the time it was over, his head had been spinning. He'd fallen asleep as soon as his head had crashed to the pillow, his head spinning from all the motion.

And he could see that in his face today. Although he'd had his rest this morning, his hair was still in a disarray and he could make out black bags underneath his eyes. He blinked several times to make sure that it wasn't just his tired eyes playing up on him.

He rubbed his eyes ferociously as if he were trying to rub away the dark circles that surrounded them. Of course, it did no use for his image but it made him feel slightly less stuffy and gave him the energy to start the shower.

Feeling the hot running water fall on top of him and the smell of soap was what finally managed to wake him up properly. He always hated the dirty feeling he had of a morning. A shower was certainly the best cure for it and after a night like he'd had, it was certainly necessary. He actually felt disappointed when he realised he had to get out until he remembered that he could return to Quinn again.

He shut the water off bluntly and mumbled to himself as he reached for a towel and blinked several times to remove the water from his eyes. He used the towel to dry his facial features and as he pulled it from his face, something caught his eye.

In the corner of the room and opposite the toilet was a bin. It was empty apart from one object and from Sam's assumptions, it certainly a terrifying object - a used pregnancy test.

He could feel his heart beat loud in his chest as he approached the bin anxiously. After making sure that he had a clear view, he established that the object was in fact a used pregnancy test. Even though he was curious, Sam was too afraid to touch the thing so he backed away instead, his hands shaking as he did.

Wrapping the towel around his waist, he fled out of the bathroom and down the hall , almost tripping over his own feet several times due to his flustered thoughts.

"Hey, you." Quinn murmured seductively as she admired Sam's dripping abs as he burst through the door. Her smile dropped the instant she saw his face though, as his terror and confusion was difficult to miss.

"You have some explaining to do." he spat, deadpan with eyebrows knitted tightly together. The shaking had now elaborated to the majority of his body and he could feel his muscles constantly tensing and relaxing.

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" she asked as he stomach turned and her mind spun, imagining all possible scenarios.

Sam's footsteps progressed towards Quinn and she began to fear that this was more serious than she'd assumed.

"There is a used pregnancy test in the trash down there and unless you're mom suddenly began seeing someone, I don't suppose it could be anyone else's but yours."

The words hit Quinn like a train. She had to fight at her hardest to bite back the urge to burst into tears. "I-I…" she muttered.

Sam's lips trembled as he thought of what could have been going through her mind when she'd decided to not tell him about this. "Quinn, I thought I could trust you to tell me everything!" he exclaimed.

"Well, when you said that I thought you meant everything worth knowing!" she defended herself as she sprung up from the bed and draped her naked body in a nearby dressing gown. "It was just a pregnancy scare, nothing more. It was negative."

Although Sam was relieved of this, it still didn't do much for his anger issues. He had trusted Quinn to tell him whatever was going through her mind at any time. She knew that she could have called him at two in the morning to tell him that she was hungry, yet she'd decided to leave this major piece of information out.

"But do you not think that I have a right to know?" he exclaimed angrily.

Quinn grunted with frustration. "Of course, yes, but I didn't want to scare you, Sam! I would've told you if it had been positive!"

"It doesn't matter, Quinn! Whether positive or negative, I would've been there for you and you should have known that. Didn't you want support whilst you were questioning it? I could have given you that support but you never gave me the chance!"

"Why are you making such a big deal out this?" Quinn demanded, the sound of her voice increasing. "It's not as if it's got to affect us."

To begin with, Sam had been angry when he'd discovered this news but now he just felt genuinely hurt. "Are you serious?" he asked quietly and when she nodded he had to bit his head and look away to hold back what he really wanted to say. "Yes, it _does_ affect us, Quinn." he barely breathed the words so that she could just about hear what he was saying, "It affects how I trust you and what I expect you to tell me."

"I won't do it again." Quinn cried. She spoke in the same voice that she always did and in the way that Sam would have expected her to yet somehow this time around he couldn't hear the promising tone in her words that he used to. This had shaken him to the bone.

"I just need some time." he grumbled, averting his gaze from her as he stumbled into last night's clothes.

"No, wait!" Quinn protested, rushing over to him and trying to stop him from going. "Please stay, Sam. We can talk about this, it doesn't have to end like this."

Then, Sam did something that terrified him because he'd never done it before - he pushed her away. He used all his might to heave her strength off of him so that he could continue collecting his things.

"I just need some time." he repeated as he made his way for the door. He shot her one last glance just before he slipped out.

All Quinn could manage to whisper in that time was, "Please, Sam…" but it did no use. He clenched his eyelids shut before storming out of the room and then the house.

…**..**

Quinn didn't like being alone after an argument. She liked to talk out her problems and explain how she was feeling. That's why she hated her life so much before her parents found out she was pregnant last year. She remembered her exact words as she tried to express how she'd been feeling for the past 16 years of her life:

"_I needed my mom and you were so scared of what he would do if he found out that you just pushed it aside like we do every bad feeling in this house. If you don't talk about it, it doesn't exist!"_

After experiencing her fair share of them, Quinn realised that its easy to remember the things you say during arguments. Usually the ones that you regret saying or the ones you feel proud that you said.

This time around, Quinn just remembered everything. She remembered everything she said, she remembered everything Sam said. She remembered the way he'd looked, the way she'd felt. She remembered hurting him and pretending as if it was nothing when she knew she shouldn't have. It killed her inside.

She took a shower and cried. She got dressed and cried. She ate her lunch and cried. She just cried in general, wishing it would have never happened. This feeling was unsettling. Her body craved to feel his arms around her, her ears begged to hear his voice.

But she couldn't because of what she'd done and said. She almost felt as regretful as she had when she found out she was pregnant the previous year.

Eyes red and tear stained, she finally shuffled over to answer the doorbell which was ringing. If it was her mom, she would pretend that she didn't notice the tears. If it was the mailman, he wouldn't say anything.

But it wasn't her mom, or the mailman, or anyone else that she'd rather it have been. It was Noah Puckerman.

"Hey, Prom Queen."

"If you're here to get me drunk again, don't bother." Quinn scowled through her words and began to slam the door in his face. His confident grin was sickening.

Puck pushed against the door to make sure she didn't shut it. "Don't, please… just let me come in. I just want to talk to you."

"How do you keep finding my house?" she asked.

Puck scoffed and pulled a genuinely offended facial expression. "Are you serious? Have you met me?" Quinn restrained herself from mumbling 'unfortunately beneath her breath, "MILF, dude's like me are born with this kind of knowledge."

Quinn cocked an eyebrow up. "What's your game, Noah? I don't trust all of this."

"All of what?" Puck asked as he stepped through the space between the door and the wall. He checked out his surroundings as he strolled down the hall.

"_This_!" Quinn exclaimed with frustration. "You keep trying to talk to me about Sam and things that you wouldn't usually care about. Why now?"

Puck spun around to face her. "Because I know there's something going on between you two. I just know it."

Quinn threw her head back and groaned lonely. "There is not!" she yelled loud enough for the neighbours to hear. And she wasn't so much as lying either because she wasn't sure what Sam meant when he said he 'needed time'.

Rolling his eyes, Puck began to sprint up the stairs and down the hall to Quinn's bedroom whilst she followed him and quizzed him on his motives. He strolled around the room with his hands behind his back, trying to imagine that he was one of those cool people on CSI.

"Hey, do you still keep all your panties in this draw?" Puck gasped with excitement as he skipped towards her chest of drawers with wide eyes.

"Puck!" Quinn exclaimed disgustedly but it was too late. He was already rooting through the depths of the draw and pulling out some items that he found amusing. "Put them back, _now_!" she commanded whilst fighting his hands away.

"Ah," Puck mused as Quinn was still unable to hold him off, "what are these?" he pulled out a pair of dark grey boxer shorts and Quinn immediately froze. "Sam's?" he asked excitedly. Usually, she didn't have a problem with Sam leaving his things behind. Her mom never looked through them, she didn't care. But right now was probably the most God awful time he could've done it. She had to restrain herself from cursing under her breath.

"No!" Quinn denied, "Well… yes, but they're from when we were dating." she lied. She gave herself a mental pat on the back for that one.

Puck rolled his eyes. "You never slept with him when you were together."

"How do you know?"

"Because he would've told me!"

"Maybe people would rather keep their sex lives to themselves than explain every detail to you for once, Puck."

"But these are the kind of things dudes talk about when there's no chicks around. It's our nature."

Quinn sighed with frustration. "Just-… just go, Noah. Please, I'm really not in the mood right now."

"Yeah, I can see that - you've been crying." he retorted smugly, folding his arms across his chest.

"Why do you care?" she argued becoming more and more agitated by his presence. "Even if something was happening, it's nothing to do with you. Can't you just leave me alone?"

"No, because it's important to the Glee club." Puck argued. It was the line of defence Rachel had told him to use. "You know I love it, but I'd never admit it. If you mess up the dynamics of the group, we've got no chance at Nationals!"

"Well then don't tell anyone!" she cried.

The room stopped for a moment in Sam and Puck's mind. They were drowning in a thick layer of silence that made the whole situation seem even more dramatic. Quinn couldn't believe what she'd just said just as much as Puck couldn't. He came her to taunt her and make her feel guilty for something she may or may not have done - not to make her admit.

"Look, just… please, don't tell anybody." she begged as her lower lip quivered, "I can't deal with anyone drama right now. I need Sam. Please."

Puck's mouth was still straying about, unable to respond to her words. How was he supposed to? Rachel never gave him any material for this situation.

After continuous minutes of silence, Puck finally cleared his throat and spoke up. "How long as this been happening for?"

"What?"

"How long has this been happening for?" Puck repeated, his words thundering as he invading her personal space and intimidated her.

"A few months… maybe two. Since Rachel Berry's party." she admitted.

Puck closed his eyes and mumbled curses under his breath. "I told you sex can change everything." she murmured whilst pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Just go please." Quinn whispered breathlessly. Her voice may have been timid but the emotion in her words was unmistakeable, causing even Puck to flinch. He soon regained his composure though and shook his head in disbelief.

"I like your ring by the way." he mumbled, nodding towards the box on Quinn's nightstand before shuffling out of the room and eventually the house.

Quinn stood completely still for minutes and minutes after she was sure he was gone. Her heart was beating heavy and her eyes were stinging with tears, her vision blurred. What had she done? When did she become this person? Would God be proud? Would her _old_ mother, the one she wanted back, would she be proud?

So, she fell to the floor again for the millionth time today, letting the tears spill over her eyes and free fall down her face. She kept her lips pursed to restrain her moans and slowly turned her head to face the ring box on the nightstand. That ring meant the world to her. Sam meant the world to her. She didn't want that to change.

But now she'd done something stupid. No in fact, it wasn't just stupid, it was heedless, reckless and irresponsible because not only had she put herself in the danger zone, but she'd also done that to Sam.

And she didn't want to hurt him. Even if he didn't want to see her or speak to right now, it was okay. She would protect him from the sidelines. She couldn't tell him about this just yet. He couldn't know, he'd be furious.

So, she decided that she'd wait until the moment was right. She would keep it back until he was ready to talk to her again.

And then she would break up with Finn at the next football match.

**I told you that Puck would come into it more! He was my secret weapon with this story ;) Well, I realise that this chapter is short in comparison to the last but I hope you still enjoyed it anyway, enough to drop a review maybe? Oh and I know that I keep making Sam and Quinn's situation perfect and then ruining it but I can't help it! After all, what's a fan fiction without drama? Thank you for reading!**


	17. Chapter 17

Minutes felt like hours to Quinn as she paced around her empty house. She was paranoid and terrified. She spent her time trying to come up with a best case scenario but she couldn't because every outcome of this situation was awful no matter how optimistic she tried to be. Of all the people she could have let it slip to, her big mouth had to choose Noah Puckerman. It's not that she didn't like Puck - she cared about him a lot actually because of their history - it was just that she knew what he was like and he would only keep this quiet until Nationals was over and that was it.

It was a regular thing in Quinn's life that she wished she could go back in time but never had she felt so strongly about it before. But it's not just that she wanted to go back to a couple of hours or days ago where she acted a complete fool - she wanted to go back _months_. She wanted to be the girl who was still with Sam and had always stayed faithful to him. She didn't want to be who she was now because she didn't like that girl, not at the slightest. She was cruel and possessive with a compulsive need for people to like her.

Yet she made it hard for people to like her because of the way she went about it and the things she did to make that possible. She never wanted Sam to be scared about the pregnancy scare so she didn't tell him yet it had made him even more infuriated. She didn't want Finn to hate her but if he ever found out what she'd done, which was seeming more and more likely, it would be inevitable.

Her life was becoming more and more complicated and as she came to terms with that, the more she wanted her mom beside her. She craved for that relationship - the one where she could tell her mother anything and guarantee that she wouldn't be judged and would be drown in motherly advice. She wanted her mom to hold her and tell her that it would be okay when she cried because if she didn't have Sam, she had no one and it wasn't melodramatic because it was true.

And now that she'd temporarily lost Sam, she was alone and Quinn was the kind of girl who didn't feel alive when she was lonely. She thrived from having someone to count on and someone who made her feel at home when the truth was that she had no home anymore. These four walls didn't mean anything to her - they were just the place where she _lived_.

She wanted to be with Sam.

* * *

"Now, we'll begin our next 'Mission Meeting' by reading out what we did the previous meeting…" Rachel began after clearing her throat and running her finger underneath the words on her red clipboard as she paced around the room and Puck lounged on her bed, "in which we discussed what we did the meeting before… and then you spent the remaining 50 minutes scanning my draws."

"People always hide cool things in their draws…" Puck mused with glassy eyes, "especially girls."

Rachel knitted her eyebrows together tightly. "Well, this time why don't we try and make _use_ of the meeting." she sniped, "Maybe you could report back to me on what happened when you went to Quinn's house yesterday?"

Puck held his breath for a moment, holding his chest tightly. He didn't often speak about Quinn before all of this began, at least not to people anyway. He didn't like people to think he was a pansy or anything because he was in love with some chick. 'No girl can tame Puckzilla' was usually his preferred response when people asked about his love life but the truth was he never really got over her. Girls came and went out of his life. He tried to find his rebound but he couldn't because there was no rebound for him.

And he was terrified, although he'd never admit it to anyone. He never imagined that one someone would tie him down. He'd always suspected that he would continue living on the way he did, picking up girls and dropping them again. It was in his nature. Falling for a girl was not supposed to happen, especially a girl that was strictly off limits. It drove him insane. Telling Rachel was a big risk - if people found out he was still into Quinn, they'd look at him a different way. Sure, he knocked her up a couple of months back but that was cool because it meant he'd slept with her.

But this time it wasn't just about the sex and that was the scary thing - he actually wanted to be with her.

It took him all that thinking to realise that he still hadn't replied. Slowly, he rose from his lounging position on Rachel's bed before taking a deep breath. "Nothing…" he lied through his teeth, "she didn't even let me in. She thought I was just trying to get her drunk again."

With a shrug, Rachel dismissed the topic. Why had Puck lied? He didn't know to begin with but then he remembered what Quinn had said to him - 'Please, don't tell anybody.'

How could he betray her with the feelings he had for her? He was heartless a lot of the time but that was going to stop. He was about to make a change for the better, or at least he convinced himself so. He wanted to be good to Quinn. He wanted to prove to her that he could make it right.

He just wasn't sure how long it was going to last this time.

* * *

The crowd cheered and screeched at the top of their voices as the final whistle blew and the game was won. Songs of rejoice and happiness were echoed throughout the bleachers.

Quinn had attended the game by herself. This was the first time she was experiencing the game from a fans point of view. The only other times she'd attended them was as a Cheerio or when the Glee club performed during the half time show and she'd only just realised what she'd been missing out on. The atmosphere was intense and enthralling. This huge sea of people had all joined together for the same cause - to support their team. She suddenly didn't feel so alone anymore.

Another exciting element to this was the fact that Sam had been playing as quarterback. Quinn still hadn't spoken to him but she wanted to support him and show him that she cared. She was hoping that he'd spot her at some point during the evening and she was overjoyed that the final touchdown he'd just scored would guarantee him as the first choice quarterback.

But that wasn't her main reason for being her. Tonight was the night that things ended with Finn, no exceptions. Of course, the blow to him would be harder than she'd hoped as he'd just lost his place on the team as the first choice quarterback but she was sick of all this procrastination. She knew the time would come and she wouldn't hold it back any longer. This was it.

As the cheered died down and fans began to retreat to the car park, she marched down the steps of the bleachers. Her eyes scanned the field but she couldn't seem to find Finn and it shouldn't have been difficult since he was so tall. Sighing, she realised that he wasn't there and concluded that he must have already trudged back to the changing rooms which was strictly off limits for her.

Just as she was about to return to her own car, she felt her phone bleep with a text in her pocket. She reached in and grasped it, opening the text straight away. She was ecstatic to find out that the message had been sent from Sam and although she was slightly afraid to read it, she opened it nevertheless.

'Meet me changing rooms in about ½ an hr wen every1 is gone. We need 2 talk. x'

She tried to hide her thrill at the prospect of seeing Sam but it was too much. She'd missed him like a hole in the head over these two days or so and just speaking to him might help to close that gap, or at least she hoped so anyway. So, with a grin she set off by foot to her favourite coffee shop just down the road where she planned to wait half an hour before heading back to school and into the boys changing rooms.

* * *

Time passed slowly but it did come around. Quinn sat alone in the small Barista's, cupping a mug in her hands as she tried to keep the heat to her body. It was late April but it was still chilly in Ohio as usual.

Her stomach twisted and turned as she headed back to the school. Her breathing was uneven and her palms were sweating violently. She hoped the outcome of this conversation would be positive for her.

Quietly, she made her way around the corners and slipped through the boy's locker room door which was peaking open slightly. It seemed dead empty until she realised that she could hear running water and the faint sound of singing from a distance. She was instantly drawn towards the sound, tiptoeing with the wide grin to the shower cubicles.

Of course, the source of the sound was Sam who was singing in the shower. Quinn happened to know that his water at home had been inconveniently shut off so he'd been taking showers after football practice and at his neighbour's house. At first, she was tempted to approach him without sound but she still wasn't sure how he was feeling about her and didn't want to frighten him so she cleared her throat as she neared him.

Sam blinked several times in order to clear the water and soap out of his eyes. He used his palm to wipe away his dripping bangs and smiled shyly as Quinn came closer to him. "Hey…" he mumbled as he shut the water off. He reached for a towel which had been hanging beside the shower cubicle and wrapped it around his waist.

"Hi…" Quinn fluttered her eyelids and tensed her forehead as she tried to think of what to say. 'How are you?' No, too friendly. 'I love you.' No, too much.

She didn't get a chance to react though because before she could say anything, words fell out of Sam's mouth like he'd been planning them his entire life and he couldn't wait to release them. "I've missed you." he admitted with sad eyes.

Quinn bit her lip and nodded. "I know, I've missed you too." she replied, falling into his arms immediately and dropping her purse. She didn't care too much that he was soaking wet. She just needed to feel his arms around her again, like everything would be okay even though she knew it wouldn't be.

"Thank you for respecting my space." he spoke into the material of her clothes, "I just felt like the honesty you'd promised me was all a lie after that. I know I got angry and I'm sorry but-"

"No, no!" Quinn cut him off as she tried to hold back her tears. She was crying too much lately and she didn't want to do it anymore. "You had every right to be furious. I should've told you and _I'm_ sorry. I made a mistake by keeping it from you. You deserved to know."

Sam laughed quietly as he pulled away from her, keeping a tight grasp on her shoulders as his eyes bore into hers. "You're special, Quinn." he murmured, "And perfect… and everything I need."

Quinn laughed at the honesty in his words but she could feel the swelling of the tears in her eyes increasing. He made her feel so good she couldn't put it into words anymore. He just took her breath away and that's all she could say. "I love you so much…" she whispered as the tears began to stream down her face. He placed a light kiss on her lips which grew deeper and deeper with passion. Eventually, he pried her lips open and slipped his tongue through the gap.

She fell closer and closer into him and stumbled into the cubicle. Their kissing was ferocious and the touched they were sharing even more so. She soon shimmied her jacket off and kicked away her shoes and socks. Any accessories she was wearing were flung away as she pressed him up against the moist walls and the humid air surrounding them.

His towel fell off, giving her full access to him. He accidentally fell on the tap and knocked the water on and she slammed him up against the wall and ran her hands down his well defined abs. Soon enough, Quinn was left in nothing but her underwear as the hot, steaming water dribbled over their bodies and fell in the tiny cracks of space in between them.

Everything was so sweet, so perfect. It didn't matter where they were or how uncomfortable their positions where, or how much air they deprived themselves of. All that mattered that they were finally with each other again.

But every ounce of happiness was slipped away just before Sam tried to unclip Quinn's bra from the back as a familiar voice sounded a small distance away from them that they hoped they would never hear at a time like this.

"What the hell is going on here?" Finn shrieked furiously.

**OMG! That is such a cliffhanger… I'm a terrible person. Why did I do that? I don't even know why I did that. REVIEW AND I MIGHT UPDATE FASTER! Oh and I just want to say that I'm not American, I'm from England, so I've no idea about American Football or 'touchdowns' and 'quarterbacks' so I'm sorry if I made no sense when I wrote those things. Hope you enjoyed the drama ;)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Ah I had an explosion on reviews on that last chapter, which is awesome! I kinda guessed that you were all encouraged to give feedback after that awful cliff-hanger I left you on. Well, I'm glad you all seemed to like the drama! This chapter is probably going to be quite angst, especially for Quinn because we all know she's that kind of character ;) enjoy!**

The initial shock of it all was enough to snap Quinn's legs. She felt weak at the knees as her stomach twisted into a tight knot. There was no getting out of this mess.

"Finn." she stumbled around immediately, her fingers shaking with fright of what was about to happen. _How had it come to this?_, she asked herself_. _When did she become this person? This person that she swore she would never be and never wanted to be. This person who lied and cheated, trying to get away with it without becoming plastered in labels like 'slut' and 'whore'.

But it wasn't only the dreadfulness of what she'd done that shook Quinn to the core - it was the embarrassment. Besides all other feelings, she was embarrassed. To be caught half naked and grinding on your ex boyfriend by your current boyfriend _in the shower_ of all places was mortifying. She couldn't even begin to imagine what would be racing through Finn's mind right about now if it hadn't already collapsed from overload.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" he practically screeched the words. Sam instinctively reached for the towel that had strayed on the floor and wrapped it around himself after shutting off the water again. Quinn tried to grasp any piece of clothing that surrounded her, trying to hide her bare skin. "I left some of my football gear her, I come back to get them and I'm met by _this_?"

At first, Finn seemed livid. He was boiling with rage, practically going red. But then he stopped and stumbled backwards shaking his head and he didn't look so angry anymore. He just looked broken - hurt. As if he'd been crumbled into pieces.

"Finn, I-"

"Don't talk to me, Quinn. Don't even look at me. This… all of this… it's… what's wrong with you?" he could barely stammer out the words as his eyes swelled up with tears and his vision blurred. It wasn't often he cried anymore. After experiencing his fair share of unstable situations, he'd learned to control his emotions a little more but this was just too much not only because what he'd just seen was appalling but it was degrading and it was the second time now. One of these days, he was going to walk away so broken that he wouldn't be able to trust anyone but his own mother again.

"I'm sorry- I… it wasn't supposed to be this way, Finn. I just-"

"Do you think this is funny?" Finn screamed, his throat burning from the height of his voice. "It's not funny, Quinn. It's _sickening_." he spat, his face crumpling up in disgust. He pinched the bridge of his nose as Quinn sobbed silently. He then become ridged again and his eyes strayed to the sight of Sam, who just looked unstable. "And you!" he yelled, pointing his finger violently in the blonde's direction, "Who do _you_ think you are? I thought you were my friend."

Sam was feeling utterly guilt-ridden but he wasn't afraid to put up a fight and defend himself when it came to it, so he immediately snapped back. "Oh, what, just like _you_ did to _me_, huh? Do you think that _I_ thought it was funny when I found out that my girlfriend had been messing about with you?"

"It wasn't like this, Sam." Finn retorted, the sides of his mouth turning downwards in disgust as he glared through wide eyes. "I made out with her, it's not like we had sex or anything which is clearly what you two seemed to be heading towards."

"Look, I'm not defending my actions." Sam replied, "I'm just saying, you have _no right_ to criticise me when you've had the same intentions."

Finn's facial expression softened momentarily which caused Quinn to fear what was about to happen. You may even say she saw it coming because she'd been in a similar situation before and she knew that look. It terrified her but she knew there was nothing she could do now because that look was the exact same look she'd seen in Finn's eyes over a year ago in that choir room just before he launched onto Noah and began slamming his fist into his face.

And that was exactly which came to Sam. Finn's reflex action was quite obvious - to blast Sam with a physical blow. It was a simple as that. His fist impacted with Sam's face, knocking him into the wall of the shower cubicle and instantly spraying blood everywhere.

Quinn screamed involuntarily as she watched Sam scrambled upwards and grip Finn around the shoulders, turning around and slamming him into the wall himself. She watched in remorse, begging them to stop it as they toppled over one another and smacked their fists into each other at any chance they head.

"Please, stop!" Quinn cried, feeling the odd part of the damsel in distress. This wasn't how everything was supposed to have happened. Things were supposed to have ran smoothly. What had she been thinking about two months ago when she agreed with what Sam had suggested? She should've known things like that never worked out or 'ran smoothly'. There was always a bump in the road. One way or another, things got out. Rumours spread, people realised the truth and that left Quinn and Sam stranded without options. She was never supposed to hurt anybody but she'd done more damage now than could be forgotten.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Coach Beiste cried, emerging through the door of the lockers rooms. She immediately pushed past Quinn and broke apart the two brawling boys, dragging them both by their collars.

"I'll tell you what's going on here," Finn spat venomously, "Sam's a lying bastard that doesn't deserve to be quarterback!"

"Hey!" Bieste yelled as the boys tried to get to fighting again and failed due to the female coach's strong arms. "That's _enough_. You guys are a team!"

"Oh yeah?" Finn laughed humourlessly as he pulled himself away from Bieste's grasp. "Well, not anymore were not." she retorted before composing himself and preparing to walk away but before he could go, he turned to Quinn. His face was pained as he watched Quinn incapable of holding herself together. It reminded him too much of the day he'd found out that he wasn't going to be a father after all.

"I'm done with you." he spoke through a clenched jaw as he pointed a heavy finger at her. His words emphasised the similarity of the two situations. "You've lost it, Quinn. You're _done_ now. There's nothing left for you." he finished and with that, he stormed out with tears streaming down his face.

Quinn wasn't sure what he meant by those words but she certainly felt the impact of them. Her stomach twisted and turned in ways that she'd never felt before as she wrung the soaking material in her hands, crying loudly. She couldn't care less that Coach Bieste and Sam were both present. She was in pieces, shambles. This time, she was so shaken that she didn't think that even Sam could fix this.

"You wanna get some clothes on, Missy. And you too, quarterback." Bieste commented, clearly oblivious to what had went on before she'd arrived. Quinn realised that he words were a snipe but she nodded in agreement. With a moan, she collected her belongings and ran off deeper into the changing rooms, putting her clothes on as quickly as possible. She didn't give a damn if they were soaking or she looked like a mess because she felt the same on the inside. What had just happened was going to scar her for life. She'd never seen Finn so angry in her entire life. Actually, she'd never seen anyone so angry in her entire life and she didn't want to see it again.

On her way out, she stopped as she passed Sam. His lip was bleeding terribly and a bruise was already beginning to form underneath his left eye whilst he shot her an apologetic look. "Quinn, I-"

"We made a mistake, Sam." Quinn disallowed him to finish his sentence, "This was wrong of us. How could we do something like this?"

"Because we love each other…" Sam murmured nervously as she took baby steps towards Quinn.

She shook her head and stepped away though, rejecting his love. "No, Sam. I love you, I do, but I did this because it's in my nature. It's who I am and it's who I always will be… and I can't trust myself with you anymore."

"What are you trying to say?" he whispered, his eyes immediately shooting up towards her. He was pained by her words. He couldn't go on without her, not after all this time. She was the one making a mistake now. He honestly believed if they stuck together, they could make it better.

"You may like to seem like you're a tough guy and you're going to protect me from anything that's coming to me," tears streamed down her face uncontrollably as she spoke, "but you're not, Sam. You're fragile and I knew that yet I still abused it. Because honestly, I _deserve _whatever comes to me right now because I'm not as innocent as I used to be. I might have though that I've changed, but I'm not. You and I both know that I'm a bitch with a capital 'b' and it's impossible to change that."

"But I love you, Quinn." Sam argued, teary-eyed as he tried to get his hands in her grasp. He didn't know what made him so emotional when he was around Quinn. He always supposed to may have been the drama that this terribly confusing relationship caused him but then he wasn't so sure. It could've been just how much he cared about her that made him feel like crying every time she didn't smile when he wanted her too.

Quinn laughed humourlessly and nodded with a forced smile. "Well, you shouldn't…." she whispered, tearing his hands out of his grasp. "You deserve so much more."

"But I don't _want_ anyone else." he murmured sternly through a clenched jaw. "I want you, no-one else. Just _you_. Please, Quinn."

A pregnant pause fell between the two and it felt like years rather than seconds to Sam. Every moment he was waiting for an undetermined answer from her was hell. Finally, she spoke up but as soon as the words left her mouth, he wished she would take them back.

"I don't love you anymore, Sam." she whimpered before she fled out of the locker rooms, wiping her tears as she went.

Sam continue to stand exactly where he was - motionless as he watched the trail that she left behind. He could still smell her perfume and her the sound of her voice whispering those cruel, cruel words.

"I don't love you anymore." he said it out loud to himself, like he was checking it was physically possible for the words to form in his mouth. It didn't seem right to live in a world where he didn't have Quinn or at least a world where she didn't want him. He was so used to feeling her there when he woke up in the morning or seeing her catch him grinning at her during lessons that it was like breathing to him. She was the air and without him, life wasn't worth living as 'emo' as some may say it sounded.

He still loved her and that was the bottom line.

* * *

When Quinn arrived home, she had still been crying. Her car had been parked diagonally outside on their drive as she didn't have the energy to concentrate on anything. She couldn't see and her throat stung so much that she felt like she was about to die.

Once she slammed the door behind her, she fell against it and allowed the tears to fall harder. She kept asking herself the same question: what have I done?

This whole situation reminded her of what Rachel Berry had sung at Regionals, as much as she loathed that girl. She even murmured the lyrics under her breath, trying to calm her tears.

"_What have I done? I wish I could run away from this ship going under. Just trying to help, hurt everyone else. Now I feel the weight of the world is on my shoulders."_

It didn't help much. It just emphasised what she was feeling but she was still glad to know that she wasn't the only one who made a mess of things sometimes. People had always expected her to be perfect from the moment she born into her rich family in the better of districts of Ohio. She was raised in a family with good, Christian morals. She was given discipline and rewards for when she acted well. She was told which kids on the playground she could and could not interact with and was scolded when she played with the 'bad influences' in the sandbox. She was taught to take care of her appearance and that what was on the outside was everything.

She'd always followed and respected those rules until that one fateful day over ago. She remembered her parents leaving her but just before they did, her mother had chastised her for a small weight gain and she felt awful. And that the Jewish boy that her daddy swore was a bad influence showed up on her doorstep with wine coolers. She was so angry that her mom that she took it out by drowning her sorrows through intoxication. As everyone knew, one thing led to another and 9 months later she'd been kicked out of her own home, lost almost everyone and everything she loved and her morals were long lost with a precious life in her arms.

From then on, when Quinn's mom had offered for her to return home, things never really fixed themselves and it was quite clear to Quinn that her mother had no intentions of trying to fix things anytime soon. But this time, Quinn wanted to make things right. She was sick of feeling like a disappointment. The awful deeds just kept on coming after that day she spent with Noah Puckerman - the lying, cheating and deceiving never stopped - but Quinn wanted those days to be over. She needed a friend, but not just any friend. She needed her mom.

Quietly so, she tip toed into the living room where she found her mother enjoying a soap opera on television with a glass of wine in one hand and the TV remote in the other. Judy didn't feel her daughter's presence at first but her ears prickled when she heard soft whimpers sounding from behind her. Cautiously, she turned around to find Quinn with her eyelids pressed firmly closed as the tears flooded out of her mouth.

Situations like this didn't occur in this house often, so Quinn's mom didn't have a reaction. She just sat and watched unsurely as her daughter made it apparent that she needed someone to hold her. Her senses soon came to her and she stood slowly, approaching her daughter. She tried to think of what had happened recently that may have upset Quinn but nothing came to mind.

"Quinny, what's wrong?" she asked quietly, using the tender nickname which was like music to her daughters ear. Quinn continued to cry softly but she shuffled towards her mother as she sniffled and moaned.

"I don't know who I am anymore, mom." she cried, falling into her mother's arms immediately and sobbing into her chest. Judy was ridged to begin with but she soon reacted in a motherly way and began to stroke her daughter's hair, whispering soothing words and telling her that she could explain everything to her.

**That's some serious stuff, huh? I tried really hard to make Finn seem really furious and stuff, so I hope that you find it convincing. I can feel this story pulling to its end now. I'll promise about 4 more chapters definitely but I'm not quite sure how many until it ends. I'm also planning on writing an epilogue which might be a song fic depending on if I can find the right song or not. Anyway, excuse my mindless blabbering once again. Please review & thank you for reading!**


	19. Chapter 19

**I'm just going to talk about some of the reviews in my authors note before this chapter. It's became apparent that a lot of you think Quinn has been a bitch in the last chapter and I totally agree but I am trying to keep up her usual characteristics in this story. I've noted after analysing a lot of the episodes that Quinn is the kind of person who isn't used to be surrounded by love and understanding due to the background that she's grew up in. She comes from a family where she never felt valued or like she could express herself. Having a sister with such an age gap made it difficult for her to be who she was and she could never tell her mother about her mistakes because her mom was too afraid of what her father would do. Because of this, Quinn had never been able to address real love properly when she feels it - so she runs. She's afraid that if she falls too deep, she'll hurt herself for the person she loves because of who she is. I think this is a reasonable explanation for her history of cheating. I'm not excuses what she did or saying its okay, but I'm explaining her motives. I honestly believe that Quinn **_**was**_** in love with Sam and just didn't know how to deal with it. She's extremely self conscious. She's terrified of love would do to her so she found the quickest escape route possible by kissing Finn, only realising her mistakes after her crimes had been committed. I'm trying to reflect that in my writing so I apologise if I'm making her totally unlikeable right now but I feel that's how she's been in the show lately.**

**So sorry for that big AN haha! I didn't mean to write for that long. Anyway, please enjoy this chapter and take what I have said about her into account when judging Quinn's actions!**

After Quinn fell into her mothers arm, she did something that she hadn't done for so long that it felt like a foreign action - she told the truth. She confessed to her crimes, admitted to her mistakes and expressed her regrets. The situation she was in was not _bad_, it was _terrifying._ She'd inflicted pain on the people she cared most about when trying to do the complete opposite and had only just realised how truly selfish she had been.

She'd put Sam in the danger zone. She wondered what punishment he would be presented when Coach Beiste told Principal Figgins of his little 'encounter' with Finn in the locker rooms after hours. He'd probably be put on probation and kicked off the football team, or if things came to the very worst, suspended. She also questioned what explanation he would have for them when that time came because really there was no reasonable vindication for having a half naked fight in a shower cubicle, leaving it in pieces and splattering blood everywhere.

She thought about his injuries. His eye was probably aching from the impact of Finn's fist against it. And he hadn't fought in self defence - he'd fought for Quinn and that made her feel awful, especially after the lie she'd told him afterwards. The consequences he was going to face were mortifying.

And she had lied to him, yes. She'd told him that she didn't love him anymore and that was the furthest from the truth she could possible be. Of course she loved Sam. He was everything but she terrified. Terrified that she would hurt him, terrified of what was to come. She wouldn't be able to cope with pressure on her back anymore. Hurting Sam was the last straw and it was time to stop. She also told her mom all of this.

Then, she thought about Finn. What she had done was unforgivable and she was so ashamed of who she'd become. He'd witnessed everything from a close distance. He'd seen her whispering words of love to Sam and caressing his bare chest with his own eyes and nothing could erase that. Finn was a nice guy and she'd insulted him in everything that she'd done.

Sam had been the only thing that had been convincing her she was worthy of anything. Now she'd completely changed her mind. After everything, Sam didn't deserve to have to put up with her anymore. She was afraid of what she would do to him if she let it go on any longer. She was willing to give up everything for him and Sam _was_ everything.

"I'm just so scared of what they're going to say at school when they find out…" Quinn whimpered as she jerked back and forth with tears. Her mom rubbed her back comfortingly which was an unusual but nevertheless affectionate action of her. For the first time in a long time, Quinn felt like what was happening was real and she wasn't just living in a fantasy anymore because she had someone other than Sam to talk to it about.

"Oh, honey…" Judy sighed with a pained look on her face as she watched her daughter feel into pieces, "they don't understand. They have no right to judge you."

Quinn sniffed. "That's the thing," she explained, "they have no right to get involved yet they do." there was a brief pause, "God, it'll probably be on Jacob's blog by the time I wake up tomorrow."

Judy shook her head in grimace. "You need to get away from all of this." she decided, nodding to clarify that her words were going to be put into actions. "I'll tell you what; I'll call the school first thing tomorrow. I'll tell them that we're taking a short trip out of Lima next week and you won't be able to attend. There's places I think I need to reintroduce you to."

Quinn quirked up and eyebrow and studied her mother questioningly as she passed her a tissue out of the box on the coffee table. "Like what?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter right now, I'll tell you later. Tea?"

Quinn was going to argue and beg for the answer but she didn't have the energy to do anything right now. Crying for so long had worn her down so she still closed her eyes and nodded until her mom scurried off into the kitchen. Sighing she let her head fell into her palms, her stomach twisting inside of her and she tried to think of ways to undo time.

…**..**

That weekend, the students of McKinley were granted a long weekend due to a teacher training day. This meant that they got their usual weekend off school as well as the following Monday. In some ways, Sam was thankful for this. It gave him a chance to properly think things through before he walked through those doors Tuesday morning but that was before the weekend began. After a while, he just felt worse about himself and his brain ached from all that analysing.

He would try and drown of the thoughts and memories of Quinn's word by burying himself under a pile of comic books of the latest video games but he couldn't. He even tried thinking about Nationals which was only a few weeks away but nothing worked. His thoughts were usually occupied with Quinn anyway, so he gave up trying after a while and just lay on his bed.

Sam was feeling many things after what had just gone on but most of all he was just exhausted. He felt like he'd walked a thousand miles just for nothing. How could Quinn give up so easily? Wasn't this what all these secrets had been about? They were supposed to have a happy ending right now, not an endless line of unanswered questions.

He was bored as well - bored of always being the one who tried the hardest. He loved Quinn entirely but if she could have given up so easily, she can't have cared much as he had. He'd always respected her decisions as long as she promised everything would be okay in the end and the failed attempts of happiness had now become tedious tasks.

So he made a promise to himself - when he returned to school, he would not grovel to Quinn and beg her to love him again. He would go about his day to day life, trying to ignore everything that reminded him of her.

Except he couldn't because she wasn't there, which made him pay even more attention. He had forgiven the first few days of the week because he supposed that she would need time to recover and probably didn't want to see Finn but by the time Friday came, he was beginning to worry.

First thing Tuesday, he and Finn were called to Principal Figgins's office and his day had already been ruined. Just being in the same room with the guy was difficult but listening to him explain what had gone on in those locker rooms was ten times worse. The looks he received from Mr Schue, Coach Beiste and Figgins were disgusted. He tried to blink them away and avert his gaze but everyone was watching him.

"Sam, is this true?" Mr Schue asked with disappointment clear in his eyes. That man had always cared about his Glee club so much that he felt responsible for the way they turned out, the people they became.

Sam swallowed and briefly glanced over at Finn who was resting the side of his head on a clenched fist as he tried to hold back the tears. Reluctantly, Sam swallowed and then nodded, looking his Spanish teacher right in the eye. "Yes. It's all true."

Before Mr Schue could respond, Coach Sylvester, who had been leaning with her arms folded in the corner, spoke up. "Well, William, it's apparent to me that this is a fault of your awful teaching skills and request that you should be fired immediately." she announced cockily.

"What are you even doing here, Sue? This has nothing to do with you!" Mr Schue exclaimed furiously.

"Sue, calm down!" Figgins waved off the ridiculous statement and turned back to Sam who was slouching with embarrassment in his chair. "Mr Evans, what has happened here will have consequences. You have not done enough damage for suspension because it was out of school hours, but for now you will attend two hours detention every night for the next two weeks. You and Mr Hudson will also be required to pay for the damage done to the shower cubicle."

Sam bit his lip as he tried to drown out the sound of Finn's voice as he argued about 'having every right to punch him, even if it meant damaging school property'. Sam was relieved when Figgins remained adamant that his statement was final and he could finally get out of that office. It was so stuffy in their that it felt like the walls were closing in on him if you added the pressure that was being forced on him, pairs of sad eyes watching him with disgust.

He flung his backpack over his shoulder as sped out of the room as soon as possible to get to his next class.

…**..**

Sam didn't think that things could get worse than they already were but he was so wrong. He was willing to take the blame for what had gone on and was ready to accept that there was no going back but not ever did he suspect that the whole school would know about the incident by the time the bell rang on 3 o'clock on Wednesday.

It turned out that Coach Sylvester had planted a hidden camera in the room during the meeting where Sam had confessed to what had gone on. Sue being Sue was still holding a giant grudge on the Glee club after Regionals, especially the ex Cheerios like Quinn. She hated the fact that Quinn had let her down when she needed her and not for the first time and so she took advantage of the situation and passed the video on to Jacob Ben Isarel who wasn't slow to post about it on his blog.

He was met in the locker room by taunts and laughter as they joked about him and Quinn. It was a good thing Finn had chosen to skip out on practice because if he had heard what was being said, he probably would have killed at least three of them. Sam himself would've probably punched Azimio's face out if he wasn't being watched so closely. One more incident like the last time and being given a suspension would have been him getting off easy.

"Where's your girlfriend, Sam?" Karofsky taunted, "Knocked up from your little incident in the shower?"

Sam slammed his locker shut and spun around to face his team mate, pointing his finger seriously close to his face as he forced the taller guy backwards. "Don't push me, Karofsky!" he yelled.

Karofsky held his hands up in surrender but nothing could wipe the arrogant grin off his face. "Hey, I'm just sayin'." he defended himself, "Man, whoever thought that 'queen of the angels' would be such a slut."

It took every ounce of will power for Sam not to take Karofsky there and then. "You dare say one more word about her and I swear I'll grind you into a million pieces!"

The grin on Karofsky's face became more intrigued. "Why? Do you _love_ her, Sammy? Is she your everything?"

Sam bit back his angry retorts and backed away.

"Besides, the only one who'll be grinding anything is Quinn."

Ready to pounce into action, Sam prepared to slam himself into his team mates body, uncaring of what would be the consequences of this situation. This time he'd taken it too far and he was going to pay the price for that. But Sam didn't have to lay a finger on the boy, as Puck had already launched himself into the boy's torso and took him down.

The whole thing was a blur for Sam after that. So many of the team got involved that it was hard to establish who was fighting who and what for. Sam just backed away into the corner and eventually out of the room but not before he could catch a glimpse of Puck, who was ready to sock Karofsky right in the face. He nodded solemnly at Sam before throwing the punch.

Sam felt awful. Who knew what kind of trouble Puck was going to get into after this. He was already on probation. They'd probably take him back to the slammer for a few weeks again so Sam had no idea why he had jumped in and defended him. What had Sam ever done for Puck? Nothing, really. They were friends, sure, but not the kind of friends that near killed themselves for one another. He dismissed all of his questions as he escaped out of the building.

…

Thursday was no better for Sam. There was still no sign of Quinn and the insults just kept coming. He would catch guys smirking at him or girls whispering about him from time to time. Sometimes, someone would pass him and anonymous note in class, asking him how much his 'whore' worked for, meaning Quinn. He would simply scrunch them up whilst burying his true desire to scream.

He continued to visit her locker in between classes, just in case she was just running late and would be there when he arrived but she never was. The only thing that met him was post-it notes stuck to her locker with words like 'whore' and 'slut', probably courtesy of Santana. It wasn't hard to guess when Quinn had built up a line of enemies.

Sighing, Sam would remove the post-it notes and dump them into the nearest trash can, watching over his shoulder wistfully as he prayed for Quinn's safety. She had no idea what was going to hit her when she returned.

…**..**

"Hey, Finn…" Rachel smiled awkwardly as she approached her ex boyfriend who was sitting on one of the outside bleacher. He looked gormless, staring off into space with his eyebrows furrowed in pain. "How are you doing?" she asked quietly.

It took while a Finn to get the words out of him mouth, but he eventually spoke up. "I don't know how I feel anymore. At first, I was just kind of angry at everyone… now I just feel sick inside."

Rachel paused for a few moments. She sat on the bleacher behind him, watching the sun above her as a light breeze whirled around them. This was her moment and she was going to seize it. "You know, I felt the same when I lost Jesse. I wanted him to be eaten by a lion or another large cannibal… and that's pretty serious, considering my strong views on veganism. But after I'd recovered a bit, I just kept asking what was wrong with me. I felt like it was my fault that he didn't want me anymore."

Finn stayed quiet for a moment, but he nodded. He spoke again after a few moments. "I still kind of want her though and I feel stupid because of that. She's super awesome and I felt like we were really good together."

"Maybe you should move on to someone new…" Rachel suggested quietly, trying to cope with the way his words had hurt her. "I'm sure she will soon."

Finn spun around immediately. "Rachel, it happened like less than a week ago. How do you expect me to move on just like that?" he shook his head in disbelief as Rachel's words dissolved in his mind. She opened her mouth to respond but he'd already cut into her words because she could speak them. "Wait, I know what this is about… this is about me and you, isn't it?" he asked.

Rachel didn't look at him. He held her head down and just nodded. "Yes. This is about me you." she admitted quietly.

"I knew it!" Finn exclaimed furiously, "Rachel, you need to stop this, okay? Being all over me and jumping on me whenever you get the chance, it's not cool. It's actually kind of degraining."

"D-Degrading…" Rachel stammered, "degraining isn't a word."

"Yeah, whatever." Finn retorted, "Move on, Rachel. I have."

Those were the last words he said before leaving Rachel completely alone on the bleachers. She didn't move, she just felt the weight of her heart growing heavier and heavier inside her chest. Every time she tried to heal him, it seemed like he just didn't want to know. He wasn't ready, she wasn't ready, it was too much.

Well, she was done with it now. She'd come to far to be wasted on a guy like Finn would wouldn't give her the time of day. She was her own person. Hell, she was Rachel Berry. Where were those days gone, the ones where she wouldn't allow anyone to stand on her or get in her path to fame?

She could prove not only to Finn but to herself that she was worthy of anything if she tried hard enough. She wouldn't allow him to get in the way anymore.

She was done. She was just done with it.

**Hope you liked that last piece of Rachel action I put into there. Lately, I've come to respect her character a lot more. I didn't like her at all in the first season but now she's beginning to become one of my favourites. She doesn't need Finn at all and I hate the way the writers make her grovel after him. Please review! Thanks for reading.**


	20. Chapter 20

Quinn took a deep breath before dragging the doors to McKinley open. This was it - the start of a new era. Or at least, a new Quinn Fabray. Who she'd been, who she didn't want to be, that was all gone now. This was when her real time began. She was going to make things right, one way or another.

You could sense a change about her the moment you lay eyes on her. The most noticeable element was that she was dressed completely in white. It was a metaphor for purity and wholesomeness. No longer would she throw herself around like she was nothing.

People stared at her as she walked past them quietly. Her return was huge news. She did her best to ignore them. She wouldn't let them bring her down, so she gave them the best revenge she could - holding her head high and taking the pain as if it was nothing.

Of course, she felt embarrassed and ashamed. That was only expected. The difference was that she didn't show it on the outside. _If you don't talk about it, it's not there._ The words haunted her like a reoccurring nightmare but they were reliable and therefore she had put her faith into that one moral.

As soon as she reached her locker, she could feel his presence. Sam was about. She had been expecting this, just not so soon. It was okay though. She was going to deal with this in the best way that she could. _No more lying,_ she told herself, _just truth._

"Where have you been?" he whisper-yelled, afraid that he would cause a scene. It was too late though because people had already began staring and whispering. "I called you like a million times, I waited for you every day at school. You don't know how many times I've knocked on your door to find an empty house in the past week."

Quinn acknowledged that people were watching but she didn't make it seem as if she was trying to hide anything. She sighed, pulling an irritated expression as if this was nothing but a petty, teenage argument. "I was away, with my mom." she answered deadpan as she began to load her books into her arm.

Sam watched her expectantly but she said no more. "W-what? So that's it, huh? Just 'I was away'? I don't even get a proper explanation… fantastic!" This time around, Sam didn't care what people thought. He was livid! How was she going about this like it was nothing? She knew they needed to talk about this. 'I don't love you anymore' wasn't a valid conversation because it was just a bottomless pit of lies to Sam.

"Look, Sam," she sighed, "can we do this conversation some other time? I've just got back, I really don't feel like talking about this with you right now."

Sam almost burst with anger. He reflexively slotted himself between Quinn and her distraction, something he had done often in the past in order to get her to talk to him. By the amount of times he'd done it, he wasn't afraid to call himself an expert. This time around, the distraction was her locker and so he placed himself in front of him.

"No." he answered sternly, "I've waited a whole week for this. We can do this conversation _now_, Quinn. No more running."

Quinn looked unsurely from side to side. To begin with, people had at least pretended that they weren't looking even if she knew that they were. Now, they were all just watching them argue freely in the corridor - what was the point? If Sam wanted to talk about it public, it may as well be public knowledge.

_They're not there,_ Quinn told herself mentally, _just ignore them - they're not there._

Awkwardly, she nodded at Sam before hurrying down the hallway. She was contradicting exactly what Sam had demanded from her - no running. But it was the kind of girl she was. She ran when she was afraid and right now, she was terrified. She never looked back down the hallway but she didn't have to in order to guess how Sam must've looked - mortified.

* * *

Before Quinn's return, Sam had just begun to accept the fact that maybe the rumours that floated above his head were true and Quinn was transferring. That's what made him all the more joyous when he'd seen her that morning because he'd proved them wrong.

Now, he just felt like an idiot again. He'd intended to publicly humiliate Quinn until they got to the hard stuff, the stuff that was worth talking about. Instead, he'd just humiliated himself and gave people even more reason to whisper.

What was he doing? He had no idea on how to deal with any of this stuff. Before Quinn or Santana, he'd only ever been out on a few dates with a couple of girls. There was nothing anything really serious. He was pretty sure not many adults had to deal with these kinds of things either.

But, he went to one of the most reliable characters he'd met since arriving at McKinley - Mr Schuester. He realised that maybe it wasn't cool to be talking to your teacher about your girlfriend problems, but at least Sam could guarantee that Mr Schue would at least try to understand. He'd seen the concerned expression on his Glee teacher's face last Tuesday in Figgins's office. He was quite confident Mr Schue would give him some motivation to think of a way to fix things if not any advice.

"I just don't know what to do…" he explained timidly in the Spanish teacher's office, twiddling his thumbs idly. "I feel like such an idiot."

Will grumbled uncomfortably and shifted his weight in his chair. "Well, the way I see it," he began, "before you confirm anything with Quinn about your relationship, you need to see how she feels about Finn first. I know Quinn. I've taught her long enough and I'm sure she feels awful about what's happened."

Sam nodded, gradually excepting that factor to this muddled mess. "Okay…" he mumbled nervously, "but what about me and Finn… I mean, Nationals. He probably won't even want to be within 50 metres of me. God, I _am_ an idiot!" he ran his hand over his face as a swollen lump formed in the very back of his throat.

"You're not an idiot, Sam." Mr Schue testified comfortingly, "You just expressed your feelings incorrectly. Everyone makes mistakes, Sam, and I've seen Quinn make mistakes before. Don't delude yourself - she's not perfect or a saint, however much you want her to be. There's always going to be that part of her that craves to be ahead of everyone else. You of all people should know that. You need to take care of yourself too, as well as her."

Mr Schue had clearly taken Sam aback by his knowledge of Quinn's persona. In other situations, some may say that it would have been rather strange to have a teacher know his students so well but the kids in Glee spent so much time with him, it was only expected that he knew them so well individually and how they worked as a group.

"I'll try… I just feel so strongly about her, you know? Like, I need her." he admitted shyly as his cheeks began to flush red. "I mean, how do I even begin to ask her how she feels about Finn? It's happened before… this time its worse. I've been told the state she was in the first time. I don't even want to imagine how she feels now. It makes me feel sick."

"I know, I believe you, Sam." Mr Schue smiled sympathetically, nodding at Sam with approval. He loved being able to connect with his students. "But like I say, music is the key. If you really want to get a dialogue going, you can start through song - find something, anything with a deep lyric that expresses how you feel about her."

Sam nodded. "Yeah… I think I have the perfect song. Thanks, Mr Schue. You really helped me." he stood up and flung his back pack over his shoulder before jetting out of the room with a grin smothered across his face from ear to ear.

* * *

"Right, guys. I want to talk to you about the assignment I gave you last week. Now, I know that Nationals is not far off and-"

"Mr Schue?" the sound of Quinn's voice startled the room as she entered late, clearly shaking to the bone at the sight of all these people that she'd hurt. Her voice was cracked and broken - it wasn't the headstrong Quinn that Sam had seen this morning and that terrified him. He knew she had a few issues but he didn't ever want to believe that she was 'unstable'. "Do you mind if I say something before you start?"

An almost apologetic smile washed over the Spanish teacher's mouth. "Sure, Quinn. Go right ahead." he gestured towards the centre of the room where Quinn slowly took his place.

She inhaled deeply, glancing at random facing as she prepared to open her mouth for what she was about to say. Lastly, her eyes fell upon Sam. She looked sad - very sad. He suddenly began to dread what she was about to say.

"I don't really want to talk about what happened over the past week or so. I'll assume you all know what went on." she sighed with a heavy heart, ignoring the usually confused expression that Brittany often carried. "I don't know how to say this, I just know that I can't say sorry, really. What I've done is just… too unforgivable." her breath hitched slightly as her eyes began to swell with tears, "And I've come to love this room so much… it hurts so bad."

"Quinn, what are you trying to say?" Mercedes asked but not snappily. It was more comforting and friendly than anything.

Quinn inhaled through her nose and blinked several times, allowing a random tear to fall down her face. "Its just so difficult to say goodbye, you know?"

The room fell utterly silent. Sam's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. A few members of the room shared uneasy glances. Then, chaos broke out. People began yelling things at her like 'are you crazy?' and 'does this mean your leaving for good?'. Eventually, Mr Schue had to take charge and try to calm everyone down. He was conscious of the fact that Quinn was already out of her comfort zone and he didn't want to make this any harder for her. She nodded a thankful glance in his direction.

"Yes, I'm leaving New Directions." she finally admitted, playing with her fingernails as she sniffled and made a terrible attempt to hide her tears by constantly looking down. "You're all amazing really - you don't need me. What am I but another proper swaying in the background? Lets face it. My solos and duets are rare," she winced at the word 'duets' as she thought of all the times she'd sung with Sam but it passed, "my presence is anything special and you guys don't need a bitch like me dragging you down."

"Quinn, that's not true." Artie argued with a sad expression, "We're all one big team. If we lost someone now so close to Nationals, it would only make us weaker."

After a few moments of silence and consideration, Quinn looked up and nodded. "You're right actually, Artie. I'm sorry guys but I can't be in this room without feeling like a total outcast anymore when it used to be the complete opposite. I used to fit in you know? I suppose I _am_ doing this for myself."

"This is bullshit!" Finn cried out finally from the corner of the room. He stood from his chair and marched down to the front of the room. "I'm sorry, Mr Schue, but I just can't handle this right now." he spat viciously. He refused to look at Quinn as he stormed out.

Quinn looked to one side as the atmosphere thickened. Even Santana stayed quiet but she was already on probation for her last incident involving Quinn.

"He's right…" Quinn breathed, just so quietly that the room could barely hear her words. "I can't even begin to apologise to him. What I've done it awful. _I'm_ awful." she began to sob, "but I've hurt to many people to go without a goodbye. I just want you guys to know that I've loved you all so much and I'll be rooting for you at Nationals."

Sam stood this time. He wasn't afraid of what people would think. When it came to it, he would stick his neck out for Quinn. This was one of those moments. "Quinn, you can't do this to us." he argued, "What about all that practice? All the bonding, the talks? We've come too far for you to throw this away, we're already short on members."

"I'm sure you'll find someone who can make an equal if not better contribution to this group that I have." she answered dryly. The room fell silent again and Sam just looked as if he'd been punched in the face. Quinn let out a whimper. "Don't look at me like that." she pleaded, closing her eyes as the tears became stronger.

Sam's first instinct was to wrap his arms tightly around her and whisper her soothing words but he knew she wouldn't want that. Quinn liked standing up for herself and she was headstrong. She made her own decisions and Sam knew that no matter how hard he tried, there was very little chance of him influencing her.

"I'm sorry, Sam," Quinn sobbed, "but before I can even look at you, I need to make things right with Finn. I'm sorry that I embarrassed you early in the hallway - it was wrong, but you caught me off guard. I have my walls up right now and I'm cautious. Please be aware of that." she fled out of the room in a fluster of tears, leaving ears prickled attentively and Sam breathless. After a few moments, he returned to his seat. There was no point in following her - she obeyed by her own rules.

* * *

The sound of the piano was soothing to Quinn. It was her favourite instrument because it added such emotion to any piece of music, whether it be soft and gentle or bold and rough. She was sitting in the auditorium with one before her, so consumed by music that she hadn't even realised that she'd fallen into a song.

She began to play Hedley's 'Perfect', pressing the keys gently as she sang the lyrics quietly.

"_Falling a thousand feet per second, you still take me by surprise. I just know we can't be over, I can see it in your eyes. Making every kind of silence takes a lot to realise it's worse to finish than to start all over and never let it lie. And as long as I can feel you holding on, I won't fall even if you said I was wrong."_

She thought about Sam, how he took her breath away. How he always occupied her mind, even through the more simple times of life, when things weren't so complicated. She loved him so much, she just wanted to be the best. She couldn't do this with him until she was sure that her old self was gone forever. She didn't trust herself with him.

She had this compulsive need to be perfect for him. She wanted him to be able to put his absolute trust in her and she knew that he already did. But there was a part of him, a part of him that was still wounded from the first time she'd hurt him. She felt like she needed to prove to him again that she could be everything he needed just as long as she fixed this. She continued with her soft singing.

"_I'm not perfect but I keep trying 'cause that's what I said I would do from the start. I'm not alive if I'm lonely so please don't leave. Was it something I said or just my personality?"_

She wanted to be with him more than anything. She didn't want to let him go or be the one to set him free but for now, she needed to make sure that she could fix things. Everything was such a mess that it wouldn't have been right yet she didn't want to drive her away with these constant attempts of ditching him.

She was confusing herself now. How could she want to be with him yet resent his love? She thought that the week she'd spent with her mom out of town had helped at first but it hadn't worked it all. It just made the full force of the blow come back stronger the moment she walked through the doors. All the Church services and the confessions she'd attended - they all meant nothing anymore.

"It's a very relevant song."

The voice startled her and she stood from the piano. She would've known Sam's voice anywhere but that didn't mean that she always expected it. "Not really…" she murmured, "I'm the one that's running, remember?"

Sam sighed as he Quinn circled the piano. He followed her around it as she took careful steps and kept her gaze locked to the floor. "Yeah, that's true I suppose. You know, I always expect the best of you? I know that's wrong of me. You're not an angel."

"Gee, thanks…" she breathed, trying to allow a smile to grow on her lips but it refused. This situation was just too difficult.

"You know how I meant it." he answered deadpan, turning and walking in her direction so that their paths intersected. He stood right in front her of, grabbing her wrist and taking her by surprise. The hitch in her breath expressed this shock. "I love you, Quinn. Stop this. You're being impulsive. Apologise to Finn, come back to Glee and we can be together. It'll be a done deal."

"It's not that easy, Sam, and don't you _dare_ question this because you know that life doesn't work like that. I need space and time away from that choir room - you guys need Finn more than you need me. He's a leader, I'm a prop. Its always been that way, Sam. I don't want to risk him leaving because of me."

"You say 'you guys' like you're not one of us…"

"Because I'm not!" she yelled, her voice echoing throughout the hollow space and adding even more atmosphere to this situation. "You're making me feel like the bad guy here."

"Well, no offence, but you kind of are?" he said it like it was a question and held a confused look. "I don't understand you, Quinn. What's changed, where did you go last week?"

"I love you." she blurted out with tears spilling from her eyes. She fell into him and sobbed into his chest which he freely welcomed her into, stroking her hair soothing. "I love you so much. And I want to be with you, Sam."

"I want to be with you too." he agreed, "But we need to stop all this messing about, okay? We've come to far to throw this all away. Don't you get it? I'm furious about this! We've been holding ourselves in secret for weeks and weeks… when we finally have the chance to get it all out there, you change your mind. I'm kind of seeing a pattern here."

Quinn wiped her eyes, smudging her makeup slightly as she did. Sam didn't care though. He'd seen her without makeup and he was pretty sure she didn't need it. Her makeup wasn't the biggest of her troubles right now anyway. "You're right. Just give me time to sort things out with Finn and then I'll make my decision. I _promise_." the way she said the word 'promise' was like she'd never said a word in her life. There was such emotion in those two syllables that it almost shook the ground the stood on.

And Sam had to take her word for her. He didn't know what he'd do if the judgement day came about and she turned him down but the look in her eyes was promising and he had the perfect way to convince her.

"Fine. You go and see Finn. But tomorrow night, the Glee club are holding a showcase after school to pump everyone for Nationals. Please come. That's all I'll say."

No more words were said because he'd already planted a soft kiss on her head and left the space they stood in, disappearing behind the black show curtain.

Quinn waited for a few moments. Then, she screamed. The sound made a large echo throughout the auditorium. It was beautiful yet nerving. It was natural thing that occurred in Quinn's life though - she tried to hide things, they piled up in her wardrobe. Then they would all come out at once and make her life just a jigsaw with no guidance.

She inhaled before taking the first steps and off she went to meet Finn.

**I'm quite unsure about this chapter actually. I'm really annoyed at Quinn myself at the moment and so I'm feeling… oh I don't know! Haha. I just want Sam and Quinn to be together yet I can never make it simple. Anyway, please give me an honest opinion in a review. The next chapter will include Puck and Finn and also the awesome singing voice of Sam Evans! Thank you for reading :D**


	21. Chapter 21

**Seriously - you guys are too nice in your reviews! You're all so encouraging, thank you so much :D I really love reading them and seeing what you think. It's really nice to know you appreciate this story because I just **_**love**_** writing it! Enjoy this chapter :D**

The path to find Finn was a difficult one for Quinn. It was rather frustrating that he'd hidden and when people hide, they clearly do not wish to be found. It wasn't only that though. She was ashamed to show her face around him. She was afraid that he would start kicking chairs or pointing fingers at her. But that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that she _deserved_ everything bad that would come to her because the crimes she'd committed were too awful to ignore.

She wanted to ignore these thoughts and stop wondering about what would happen but an empty hallway isn't exactly the biggest distraction. It took the voice of a man from her past to wake her from her ever spiralling mind.

"Hey, wait up, MILF."

Quinn stopped dead in her tracks, frozen by the sound of her voice. This wasn't a time that she particularly wanted to deal with Noah Puckerman but she was too exhausted to protest or pursue him. "What do you want, Puck?" she murmured with a spiteful tone as she finally picked up the pace of her walking again.

Noah followed after her, walking by her side like a lost puppy. "I want to talk to you about something."

"Really? Because this is kind of becoming a thing for you, isn't it? Wanting to talk to me…" she sighed tediously. His joking and boyish charm had no effect on her today.

"Well, this time it's even more important. Like, more than Super Mario Brothers or anything."

For a moment, Quinn almost smiled. She then dismissed the action since she didn't have the heart to do it. "That caught me by surprise." she reluctantly admitted, "Go on then, spit it out. I'm kind of going somewhere so this needs to be quick."

After hearing this, Puck wasted no time. With a heavy sigh, he stopped in his tracks and grasped Quinn's hand in his own, pulling her closely towards him. This lips were millimetres apart.

"Puck, what are you-"

He kissed her, right there, right then and without hesitation. Quinn flinched. To begin with, other than that flinch she made no response whatsoever - she wasn't kissing him nor was she pulling away. But eventually the reality of the situation hit her and she dragged her lips away from his. As sweet as they tasted, she didn't want to deal with this right now.

"What the hell was that?" she fumed, glaring at him and touching her lips with a terrified motion in her eyes.

Puck stayed silent for a moment, pursing his lips tightly. Then, he sighed and took a few gentle steps towards Quinn, sliding his hands into his pocket. It reminded him of the moment when he had formally asked to be at the birth or Beth. It felt like a repeat of time, minus the teenage pregnancy. "I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to be with you last year, Quinn." he admitted, "And I also wasn't lying when I said that I loved you. Why did you ignore me all summer?" he demanded.

Quinn held her breath for a moment. "I didn't ignore you, Puck. Not in so many words anyway… I needed space and time. Then, I decided it was better if we were apart."

"We had a baby, Quinn!"

"I can't live with that burden forever, Puck!" she exclaimed furiously. She could see that her words had wounded him but he needed to be brought back to reality. This was difficult for her to say because she'd thought about it many times but had never been able to phrase it just right. "Look," she sighed, taking his hand in an attempt to calm him down, "I did have your baby, Puck, that's true. But you can't use that as an excuse. Maybe a part of me will still always love you. I don't know yet. But it doesn't give us this magical super power than means we can be together. All I know is that right now I love Sam and I have to make things right with Finn."

Puck shot her a wounded glare, something he didn't do very often. She realised this wasn't like him but she couldn't let that weigh her down. He had to know how she felt. It was very rare to find Noah Puckerman vulnerable and hurt especially in the presence of another girl but here he was in an empty hallway with the girl he thought he loved. "Sam… what?" he asked incredulously, "After everything that's happened… aren't you ashamed to go back to him?"

Quinn's jaw almost dropped to the floor. "Puck!" she exclaimed angrily, "You have no right to be influencing who I do and do not date, okay?"

Puck scoffed and backed away, pulling his hand out of hers. It was nice at first but now it brought him no comfort. She just felt sorry for him. "Whatever, you know…" he spat trying to seem nonplussed, "no chick tames Puckzilla. I don't know what I was thinking." It was the same excuse he'd used everyday of his life but deep down he knew it wasn't true. What was being a badass compared to having Quinn in his arms?

"Puck!" she called one last time. He stopped but didn't turn around. "Thank you…" she said.

"For what?" he asked with an annoyed tone to his voice but really he was curious.

She cleared her throat and took a few steps towards him. "For not telling Finn about everything. I understand why you did it now… but it meant a lot. You're a good guy, Puck. You deserve more than this."

"Whatever…" Noah mumbled after a slight pause before turning his back and jogging off down the hallway. Quinn sighed once he was out of sight and ran a hand down her face. This was becoming a bigger mess than it needed to be.

* * *

When Quinn finally found Finn on the bleachers of the football field, she approached him quietly and silently whilst still making sure that he was aware of her presence. She didn't want to startle him because she was afraid that it would make him angrier than he always was.

And oh, he was angry. Furious. Livid. After everything that had happened between them two, he had hoped the past were behind them and they could move on. Now, she'd just come back around full circle and made the same mistakes last time only this time it was ongoing which made it hurt more. He was just a cover up. When would she learn that he was fragile?

"Hey…" she whispered quietly, trying to seem friendly and gentle. He scowled but didn't even look at her, keeping his mouth shut and refusing to respond. "Look," she sighed, "if you're wondering I'm not here to apologise because I know that 'sorry' means nothing to you anymore… not after everything that's happened. I mean, your girlfriends keep cheating on you and I only made it worse than it has to be…" she sat down beside him. "But I want you to know that I'm dealing with this in my own way. My mom… last week, she took me out of town for a little reintroduction to God. We went to a few Church services, I also went to confession." there was another small silence. "Do you know that she set up a counselling session for me with Ms. Pillsbury? It's not much but she thinks it'll help me with the problems I'm having with… relationships."

"Why are you telling me this?" Finn blurted out, looking her in the eye for the first time since she'd arrived. Summer was beginning to show itself and the afternoon sun beat down on them heavily. The rest of the school had gone home but Quinn knew that she would find Finn still around the building. When he was having problems, he liked to dwell on them himself instead of taking it out on his family.

"Because…" Quinn began nervously, twiddling her thumbs, "I want you to know that I'm going to fix this. I think that's the best apology I cant give you. My mom thinks I have a problem and I agree. When I feel bad about myself, I tend to stray. I run from my feelings, Finn. I'm terrified of myself."

"Is that why you cheated with Sam?" he asked quietly, not accusingly but curiously yet with a dead serious tone, "Or was it because you like the rush?"

Quinn paused for a few moments; not because she was thinking about it or couldn't decide, but because she knew that the truth would hurt him. "Neither," she finally admitted. No more lying. "I did it because I loved him. I didn't break up with you because I didn't want you to get hurt yet in doing so I only made it worse."

He shook his head. "You bet it did." he retorted with a fake chirpiness to his voice. They sat in silence for a few moments as Finn played with a football in his hands idly. "Why did you quit Glee?" he finally asked.

Quinn exhaled and watched the empty football pitch, holding her posture proudly. As awkward as she felt right then, she wouldn't let it get her down. She was Quinn Fabray - it was in her nature to be proud, no matter the circumstances. She told herself it was time for a change and she could already feel it running through her veins. "Because I need space from this world for a while…" she admitted, "and I know that the team needs you more than me."

Finn didn't question the second motive but secretly he didn't feel bad. He didn't feel like he'd forced Quinn to leave and he knew that he probably would have walked if she hadn't. He'd done it the last time, so what was to stop him from doing it again? Nationals were a big deal but so were his feelings. And after this incident he was starting to learn that he needs to take care of himself as well as the rest of the team.

Not long later, Quinn stood and slipped her tote bag over her shoulder. "Good luck in Nationals, Finn… I know you're going to be fantastic. Don't dwell on me - I'm nothing."

* * *

To begin with, Quinn had been at war with herself whether to go to this Showcase or not. Of course, she had told the New Directions she was still routing for them but she didn't want to face the guys. She didn't want to see the disappointed faces of her friends, nor did she want to see the vacant glances of Puck and Finn.

Finally though, she remembered that it had been Sam who had asked her to come and she wanted to please him. If she didn't feel ready to be with him right now she at least owed it to him to fill this request. She knew that she couldn't make him happy in so many ways. This was one of those few exceptions.

So, she arrived slightly late. Nothing had begun yet but the auditorium had been filled with people flipping through the programme she was given on the door. She did this purposely though so that she could slip into the back of the room without people seeing her. A lot of people somehow already knew of her departure from the Glee club. She didn't want to take the limelight off the New Directions.

Sighing after finding a seat on the second to back row, she dropped her bag to her feet and began flicking through the programme. There was half a page dedicated to each member of the club with a short description of them and why they'd chosen to join the club. A tight knot twisted in her stomach when she realised that she'd left so untimely that Mr. Schue hadn't been able to get her description or picture edited out.

She found herself listed underneath Sam, which she grimaced at. _Damn alphabetical order,_ she thought to herself. Her name was written in bold, then it showed the date she'd joined New Directions and why she'd chosen. She remembered saying to Mr Schue when he'd asked her: _"I perform with New Directions because its an escape. Not only to I feel accepted here, but I feel safe because I know I have friends who are waiting to save me when I fall."_ and there it was, written beneath her picture in a curly font.

The lights dimmed and she hastily closed her programme and focused her attention on the stage. People began to cheer as the members approached and broke into a cover of a song that Quinn couldn't remember. She was just watching to see everybody's faces, wondering what they would think if they new she was here. She'd only left that day but she still missed them. She missed knowing that her favourite part of the day was awaiting her.

Finally, after the group performance, Rachel exploded into a cover of P!nk's 'Perfect'. Of course, Mr Schue had edited out the explicit content but as much as Quinn loathed Rachel Berry, she had to admit that she did a kick-ass job of the song. Mercedes also enjoyed a solo to an R&B song as Puck strummed on his guitar, Finn bashed on the drums and Artie joined in with the rapping.

Quinn's breath hitched when she realised that Sam would be singing a solo. She should've read it in the programme but she didn't have time. She just watched him place his stool centre stage, bringing his guitar with him nervously. Before her began, she couldn't help but pick up on his beauty - the way the stage lights reflected off of his golden blonde hair, how his deadly green eyes shone brightly and his sturdy build. Quinn felt exhausted just looking at him and imagining the amount of times they'd slept together, but in a positive way. He was flawless to her no matter how many times she tried to deny it.

Softly, he began to strum the chords to his song. There was some background music which later joined in with his song from the band, but Quinn didn't acknowledge that. She just waited for his voice and admired the way he plucked each string with care, his face full of pure emotion.

When Quinn realised the song, she whispered an almost inaudibly "no" to herself. He was singing Adele's 'Make You Feel My Love' with his own twist on it.

"_When the rain is blowing in your face and the whole world is on your case, I could offer you a warm embrace to make you feel my love."_

She had to catch her breath at how beautiful his voice was. She'd sung with him and watched him perform several times, but this was just captivating. She could see his eyes searching for her through the crowd hopefully and she could also see how he meant every word of it. Finally, their eyes met and it was like sparks ignited in the pit of her stomach. She could see how much passion he was putting into this and her mind devoured the words carefully, making sure she captured the message behind them.

"_I know you haven't made your mind up yet but I would never do you wrong. I've known it from the moment that we met, no doubt in my mind where you belong."_

Her eyes were wide, her cheeks flustered. People had caught on that he was gazing at her over the microphone intently and began to look back towards Quinn but neither of them cared. All Quinn could do was think of the promise he was making by this song and all the happiness it brought her.

_I would never do you wrong. _That meant everything to her. Of course, she was unconsciously aware of this anyway but when she saw his lips forming the words it made it all the more special. It made her feel safer. It made her want to run into his arms and cry happy tears.

"_I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue. I'd go crawling down the avenue. No, there's nothing that I wouldn't do to make you feel my love."_

Quinn had came her tonight at war with herself yet still with an open mind. Now, she didn't even have to ask the question any longer. He'd already made her mind up for her.

She chose to be with Sam.

**I hope you liked that idea! I came up with it a few weeks ago actually because I love Adele and I really wanted Sam to sing a song to Quinn… I just wasn't sure where I was going to fit it in, but there you have it! Thank you for reading, feedback would be awesome!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello again! Wow, this story is really coming to an end now… it seems so surreal! I think I've enjoyed writing it so much, it's like my baby haha :[ And all you guys have been so supportive of it! I feel really encouraged and flattered and also overrated, but thank you so much :D Please enjoy this chapter :] It's the last one, yes, and its particularly long but I have an epilogue planned which I think you'll really like. **

Through the years, Quinn had been so confused that she'd acted impulsively so many times that she couldn't distinguish being genuinely torn between her feelings from feeling reckless. This time around though, for the first time, she was pretty sure she was feeling neither of these emotions - she was certain what she wanted and she would stop and nothing to be in Sam's arms again.

After the showcase had finished, she'd immediately text Sam and invited him over. Although her and her mother had bonded a lot more lately over certain circumstances, it didn't deny the fact that her mom was a workaholic. She would be out until the early hours of the morning and really after everything she'd put her daughter through, she didn't have much of a right to dictate her life anyway. Quinn would allow her trying to encourage her choices every now and then but she drew the line at being told what to do in situations like this. This was one that she was sure about. Her final decision was made, it couldn't be influenced by anything anymore.

Sam had clearly complied without a second glance at the screen. He'd found her eyes during his performance and what he saw in them was nothing but pure love and compassion. He was pretty certain he knew that Quinn, being her formal self, just wanted to confirm everything although he kind of classed them as being together already. He couldn't let go of her.

He'd arrived in record timing, knocking on the door as a wide grin spread on his face. For once in the course of the past few months, he didn't feel like a bundle of emotions with no way out and he didn't feel like he was cheating anymore because he wasn't. He was just being plain Sam and now he had the chance to be with the girl he loved without exceptions. The opportunity would not be passed by.

Quinn answered the door with a smile growing on her own lips. She'd known it was Sam before she'd even gotten a glimpse of him. She always just kind of knew, like his personality was radiating off him so strongly that she could pick him out in a crowd of a million blonde Bieber-cuts. Was this what having a soul mate felt like?

"Hey…" she croaked, leaning against the door with her tired smile. She hadn't spoke in a few hours so words were foreign to her. It was like her mind had been pumping at such a rapid pace that she couldn't possibly put anything into words anymore. She was simply overwhelmed by emotion. Emotion and desire.

"Hi…" Sam replied in the same tone, sliding his hands into his pockets. He gazed into her eyes as he spoke. "May I come in?"

Quinn played brief façade in which she tried to fool him into believing she was considering his request but it didn't work, not one bit. Giggling, she gave it up and answered with the words her mind had instantly conjured up when he'd asked. "Of course you may."

He shuffled into her house, hanging his coat on the coat hanger just beside the door but not before catching one last whip of the warm night air. Summer was coming, he could feel it but that wasn't the only warm thing beginning to blossom.

"So…" she mused, turning to him with a gentle gleam in his eyes that told him everything, "I saw you perform tonight."

Sam nodded. "Uh-huh." he mumbled as if he were under a trance. "And…?"

"And," she repeated his word minus the questioning tone, "I love you."

Sam let out a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding. "Good… because you were starting to scare me then." he lied jokingly. With a truly content smile glazing over his lips, he used his hand to took some strands of golden blonde hair behind her ear. "I love you too." he breathed, his gaze never faltering or falling from hers as the words escaped his lips.

Quinn placed a sweet, tender and lingering kiss on his lips, pulling back with a happy sigh. "I want to be with you, Sam - for real this time."

He nodded as if it were the silliest thing he'd ever heard. "Of course for real. How could I fake wanting to be with you? The feelings to strong!"

She giggled again but gave him a soft nudge nevertheless. "No, I'm serious, Sam." she snapped but still couldn't hide her grin, "I mean it. You know what that means? No being cooped up in my bedroom for hours on end, no secretive meetings and no lazy afternoons making love to your Avatar soundtrack."

Sam chuckled at the last one. He didn't doubt that secretly she loved those afternoons. There was nothing wrong with adding a little run-on commentary from some of his favourite songs to their romantic interludes. "Deal." he agreed, pretending to seem reluctant, "I'll take you out on dates and treat you like a guy should treat his girlfriend. I'll be proud of you and I hope you'll feel the same."

"I already do…" Quinn whispered as she stared longingly into his eyes, "so, so proud. I don't care about Finn. I've done wrong and I know have but I'm not going to deprive myself of the chance to be with you. It's too much to lose." she explained, "I love you, Sam."

She fell into his arms and they held each other in a warm and loving embrace. "Wait." he fell ridged in her arms, his word muffled by his mouth on her hair. She looked up at him expectantly. "All of this… on one condition." a smug grin began to grow on his lips.

Quinn quirked up her signature eyebrow with a smirk playing on her own lips. "And what would that be?" she asked with a sigh.

"Kiss me now and never look back."

Quinn was planting and hot and passionate kiss on his lips almost before the last word could escape his lips.

* * *

"Sergeant Berry's lonely hearts club band is now in session…" Rachel mumbled tediously as she grimaced in memories of Finn turning her down whilst Puck lounged on her bed as he had done for the past few weeks.

"Why am I even here?" Puck asked more to himself than to Rachel, "And was it really necessary to give it a name? I mean, I'm all for formalities and stuff, don't get me wrong, but it kinda just makes me feel worse about what happened when you say it like that."

Rachel sighed, folding her arms on her chest. "Well, I figured that if we're going to discuss our true feelings of undying loves that don't seem to be happening in the near future, we might as well make it official. And with my outstanding background in music, it was only expected that I would name it after a song."

"Yeah, The Beatles are awesome…" Puck mused. He almost smiled but then he remembered his heartbreak and it was no longer an option. He sat up slowly and leaned against the head of Rachel's bed. "But is there really any reason for this if its only going to make us feel worse about ourselves? Don't get me wrong, I love your bedroom and your weird obsession with stuffed animals is kind of cute, but I just feel crummy right now."

Rachel's breath hitched for a moment. "You think my stuffed animals are cute?" she asked quietly, her eyes full of hope as she glanced over at him.

"Yeah, totally." Puck nodded instantly, finally smiling for what seemed like years.

Rachel mirrored his smile. "Finn just thought they were stupid…" she sighed, shuffling closer to him and sitting on the end of the bed.

Puck considered his options for a moment before scooting closer to her and finally sitting beside her. "Finn's an idiot." he stated in a matter-of-factly tone.

The brunette diva twiddled with her thumbs idly as she tried to phrase what she wanted to say. Finally, the words came over her like a storm. "I guess in our crazy attempts to redeem our loves…" she began with a heavy sigh, "we kind of fell for each other."

The words surprise Puck but he couldn't help but agree. "Yeah… I guess we did. I mean, Quinn or Finn never really understood the true meaning of being a Jew." he let out a light laugh. He turned to Rachel and gazed into her chocolate brown orbs. She could've guessed his next words better than anyone else in the world. After all she'd heard them so many times in this same room. "Wanna make out?" he suggested with a grin.

They were on the bed and all over each other in seconds.

* * *

Being happy at school was a rare thing for Quinn. She was used to feeling lousy and fatigued but after officially becoming an item with Sam, she just felt so much better about herself. She wasn't alone anymore and the changes in her were becoming more noticeable every day. People caught her smiling and feeling proud of her good grades. She didn't need a large group of friends to make her feel safe - she just needed to know that her and Sam's dates were confirmed and she could meet with him at lunch and outside of classes.

She found herself at the library after school one night the following week, catching up on some homework she'd been unable to complete over her small vacation with her mom. She was no longer gazing longingly at pictures of the Cheerio's days or fitting pictures of previous students into stereotypes from the ancient yearbooks. She didn't need to anymore. She didn't need to be a Cheerio or make herself feel better by putting other people down anymore. She had Sam. That made her happier than she could ever be.

She was so caught up in her algebra that she didn't even notice a familiar brunette approach her. One of her eyebrows raised confusedly as she glanced up at Rachel Berry from her textbook. "Hey…?" she greeted her questioningly. It wasn't often that her and Rachel made anything more than eye contact unless they were arguing.

Rachel didn't look like she wanted to argue today, although there was a determined glint in her eye. "Hello, Quinn." the diva greeted her formally. "I know you two have broken up but I would just like to say that I am no longer romantically interested in Finn and I think any more arguments between us would be uncalled for." she stated in a matter-of-factly tone, "So I am hereby requesting a peace between us."

Quinn almost laughed as she rose from her chair and quirked up an eyebrow. "Okay…" she mumbled, "and why's that?" she asked, strolling around the table and approaching Rachel.

"Well," Rachel sighed, looking off into the distance dramatically, "it seems that in trying to reclaim Finn as my boyfriend, I have fallen for another and I've already heard of your current relationship status over a certain social networking website," Quinn smiled at the memories of accepting Sam's request to be publicly displayed as her boyfriend, "and being the logically mind I am, I soon realise that this ongoing rivalry between us is rather petty."

Quinn nodded. "I agree." she smiled despite herself. Usually she wouldn't have been this kind to Rachel but as annoying as she was, the girl had a point. Also, she was too happy within herself to still hate Rachel. They had similarities in some aspects of life although she hated to admit it.

"Peace?" Rachel asked, offering a hand for Quinn to shake.

Rolling her eyes, Quinn giggled and threw her head back before pulling the brunette into a hug. She was resistant at first but soon complied, hugging Quinn back yet she still remained surprised at the sudden display of affection from the girl who was _supposed_ to be her enemy. She'd been feuding with Quinn for so long that this almost felt like it wasn't real at all, really.

"I know you meddled around in my love life." Quinn stated with a grin.

"What? I-" Rachel began to deny it immediately but Quinn had already cut her off.

"Oh please, Berry. How blind do you think I really am? Besides, I saw fixing the prom king vote at the prom. I didn't really understand why you did it at first but then the pieces kind of fitted together. I'm supposing by 'fallen for another' you mean Puck?" Rachel didn't reply but the look in her eye said it all. "Mhm." Quinn gave herself a mental pat on the back, "It was only a matter of time."

"Quinn, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Ah, it's okay." Quinn waved it off. "All turned out for the better anyway, I suppose. I hope Puck's not too embarrassed that I turned him down."

Rachel smiled slightly, her guard still up. Even though she did want to strike a friendship with Quinn, she couldn't let down all her guards just yet. Maybe in time she would accept this mutual peace but right now she still had to be careful. They both did. "I'm assisting him." Rachel told, "Thanks, Quinn… I mean, you're being quite cool about this."

The blonde shrugged. "All's fair in love and war. We've had our battles but I think its safe to say we've both benefited and are now happy."

Rachel nodded in agreement. "Of course. I'll see you later, Quinn." she began to turn around but just before she did, she made one last remark. "Oh, and I hope you'll consider rejoining Glee. We miss you in there even if Finn is a little vacant."

Quinn was about to protest that Glee club wasn't exactly what she needed right now but Rachel had already fled out and it was too late for Quinn to plant her opinion. Sighing, she returned to her homework feeling even more at peace with herself than she did before.

* * *

When Quinn had received a note in the middle of Chemistry from Finn saying that he wanted to see her, she had been confused at first. She was also cautious. It could just be another jock's attempt to get her down and although she would never allow it to get to her, she still wanted to be careful. Just because she felt safer didn't mean she was immune to embarrassment.

She figured if the note was genuine and she turned him down, it would be pretty rude of her considering all the ways she hurt him. So, reluctantly, she decided she would see him. The note had asked her to be at the auditorium after the last bell and she followed the orders.

After arriving, she found that Finn was already waiting for her, pacing around the stage with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"Hey, Finn…" she mumbled, approaching him slowly and nervously, "you asked to see me?"

Finn looked over at her, furrowing his eyebrows. It looked as if he was in pain just by seeing her. She suddenly began to feel guilty. "Yeah, I did actually." he admitting, walking closer to her. He was cautious about his steps as if she would hurt him mentally just by getting close. She felt like a criminal.

Sighing, he looked her deep in the eye and the pained look in his eyes developed into something that seemed like determination. The words were difficult for him to say but he finally put them around there: "I want you to rejoin the Glee club."

Quinn swallowed her own breath and then let it out again slowly. "Is this a joke…?" she asked quietly, looking around her as if monsters in Titan jackets were going to bounce out of the curtains armed with slushies.

"No, no." Finn denied immediately, "Not at all. The group dynamics are all wrong without you there. We need you, Quinn."

She raised a questioning eyebrow. "But I hurt you so much… I didn't think that you'd like to be in 50 metres of me, let alone on the same stage or-"

"I know, I know." he cut her off, "But I'm more mature than that. I'm going to put the team's needs before my own. It doesn't mean that I'm forgiving you or anything. Just be there tomorrow, okay? Nationals, remember?"

Quinn let out a quiet breath of a laugh. "Okay…" she whispered. Just as leaving, she turned around and faced him. "And Finn?" he looked at her expectantly. "Thanks."

Finn forced and smile and nodded slightly as he made his way out of the auditorium. He looked from side to side and checked that Quinn was no where that she may hear what he was saying as he approached a tense-looking Sam Evans.

"You did it?" Sam asked, "You got her to join again?"

Finn nodded although he didn't seem happy about it. "Yeah, I did it. But you need to do your part of the deal, okay? Remember - I grant Quinn permission to rejoin Glee club, you give me back my spot as quarterback?"

Sam nodded with a sigh. He loved being the quarterback but he sure as hell loved being with Quinn more. "Yeah. I'll resign tomorrow at practice."

Finn gave him one curt nod before pacing off into the distance. There was no formal goodbye. They may be holding a secret deal but by no means did that mean they were both friends again. They probably never would be.

* * *

"And so may I reintroduce to you…" a drum roll echoed throughout the room as Mr Schue spoke slowly, "Miss Quinn Fabray!"

Cheers and whoops circled around the room loudly as Quinn entered the room, waving timidly with a wide grin spreading across her lips. "Oh my God, its so good to be back!" she exclaimed contently as she shared a knowing glance with Rachel. They weren't friends, but they were getting there. Both of them were pretty sure that in recent weeks to come, Rachel and Puck would be joining Sam and Quinn's lunch table.

"We missed you, Quinn." Mercedes grinned happily at the sight of her old friend.

Quinn smiled back at her in return. "I missed you all too! I'm so pumped for Nationals though."

"And speaking of Nationals…" Mr Schue began to talk on about their setlist whilst ushering her to her seat beside to Sam. She complied and grinned widely as she approached her boyfriend, falling into the chair next to him as he slipped an arm around her.

"What made you change your mind?" he whispered into her ear whilst pretending to listen to the Spanish teachers ramblings. Of course, he knew exactly why but he wanted to hear it. He didn't plant on telling her of his little 'agreement' with Finn but he wanted to know how she felt about the whole thing.

"Ah, Finn came around… he said the team needed me." Quinn replied, placing a hand on his thigh and then drawing tiny patterns into his jeans. "Isn't it funny? We were just talking about how much I loved and missed Glee the other day. I guess fate is starting to like us more." she recalled with a dreamy glint in her eyes.

Sam didn't respond to her question. "I love you, Quinn." he sighed happily, planting a soft kiss on his girlfriend's cheek.

"I love you too, Sam."

**OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE ITS OVER! I think I might cry… haha! :'( Well, of course I suppose it isn't officially over until I've written and posted the Epilogue but this is the last chapter and… aw :'( I feel really sad haha! Thank you so much for supporting me throughout this story. Your reviews have meant so much and I loved all the encouragement and support you've given me! I hope you liked the ending :') I'll write the Epilogue ASAP! Thank you so, so much for reading :D**


	23. Epilogue

**It's Epilogue time! Aw, I'm kind of sad to write this. I've been telling my best friend how excited I am to write it because I like the idea I have, yet I still feel like I'm letting my story go haha :[ Ah, well. I'll try to write more Fabrevans when I can! If I get a worthy idea, I promise I'll try to do something with it but for now please enjoy this as my way of saying thank you for all the lovely reviews/favourites you guys gave me as I wrote this story :D**

Sam had never been to New York before. In fact, until he moved to Lima, he hadn't really been anywhere outside the borders of his own town. Well, at least not anywhere special or significant anyway, so the prospect of travelling there to do something that he loved was enticing.

Everyone was totally pumped about Nationals. It was the first time in a long time that McKinley had gotten this far in the competition and so everyone was really honoured to take on this opportunity to make the best of it. The build up was just as exciting too; he'd sat on the steps of the outdoor lunch area with Quinn, Puck and Rachel on many occasions where they would discuss costumes, props and set lists.

Due to the fact that they were so far away from home, the Glee club had raised enough money to pay for accommodation as well as transportation to Nationals. Well, by 'raised' they meant a lot of extensive researching into where Sue had hidden the Cheerio's funds, then yes. 'Raised' would be the correct term to use.

He lay on his bed in the middle of the night. It wasn't a usual thing for him to get nervous before competition especially when he was performing with a crowd. He had no solos, he was just involved with the group performance, but he was proud to stand and sing with a group of people he could now confidently call trustworthy friends. Well, maybe apart from Finn but that wasn't the point. He just guessed that he wanted to win so badly that it was all getting to him.

Other than these nerves, recent events in his life had only got better. He kept his distance from Finn after what happened. Quinn had questioned him many times about why he had been demoted from full-time quarterback, eventually leading to him quitting the team full time, and it was only a couple of weeks ago she had managed to badger the truth out of him. Of course, she was furious that he would do something so 'stupid' and keep it from her but also extremely grateful and flattered. He explained to her how being popular or in an elite crowd didn't matter anymore. It did to begin with, yes, but now it wasn't an issue. He had his girlfriend and his friends. That was all he could ask for.

And of course, being friends with Noah Puckerman got you places. He was probably the most well-known kid in school so his social status didn't completely dissolve into thin air. He was just a lot quieter. Also, a lot of guys almost looked up to him for the way he'd made Quinn changed her very strictly-based Christian views on sex-before-marriage. He found that kind of degrading and objectifying to Quinn though, so when ever someone made a comment he would most likely threaten them so they wouldn't do it again. He was pretty sure no one would mess with him and Puck.

As for friends, everything was going really well. He'd never had a problem with Puck. In fact, he was one of the only guys that he genuinely liked in the locker rooms, so he was quite comfortable hanging around with them. He was surprised that they'd become so close so fast.

But the biggest surprise was no doubt Rachel and Quinn's strange yet wonderful friendship. They were so different but so the same. They used to be enemies and the way they'd let go of their past after all that trouble was incredible. Sam was also quite proud of Quinn for the way she'd accepted her so well. There was no more snipes about 'wanting to punch her every time she opened her mouth' or rude nicknames like 'treasure trail'. They actually had become genuine friends.

It didn't all just happen, though. It took a lot of figuring and talking about things to get to where they were now. Puck had admitted an apology to Quinn for the impulsive way he acted in the hallway when he kissed her and she had accepted it with a hug. His feelings for her were non-romantic, which wasn't a surprise with how loved up he was with Rachel, but he still had a subconscious desire to protect his 'baby mama'.

Lying awake and thinking of all these things should probably have made him drift off into a comfortable sleep but instead Sam was even more restless. When he thought about Quinn, he automatically thought about being with her. He imagined her in front of him, the gentle touch on her finger tips and her soft lips. How could he be expected to sleep whenever she was on his mind? It was impossible.

And as if God had heard his cry, the door to his room creaked open and let in the tiniest crack of light from the hallway. He had been sharing with Puck who had snuck out to spend the night with Rachel which was disturbing but also kind of cute. He may have been a tamed man now but some things would never change. He still had his 'manly needs'.

Sam was defensive at first, his red alert switching on immediately but he soon recognised the dainty, feminine silhouette of his girlfriend and his shoulders sagged in relief. "You scared me." he whispered with a laugh as she shuffled across the carpet timidly, shutting the door behind her.

"I'm sorry…" she apologised with a tired smile, "I just needed to see you. You do not know how much sneaking I had to do out there to get here." he gestured for her to sit on the bed and she complied happily, fixating herself in between his legs. It was pitch black in the room so Sam flipped on the lamp on his bedside table. His heart fluttered with desire when light bounced up off of Quinn's beautiful facial features.

"Well, I'm glad you came actually." he admitted with a smile as he stroked her hair, "I'm nervous about tomorrow… which made me think of you. And then I felt lonely because Puck's kind of bailed on me here." he explained, gesturing to the empty bed on the other side of the room.

Quinn giggled. "That sounds like Puck," she sighed happily, "but that's exactly why I came too. I was thinking about you and I wanted to be with you. I couldn't sleep. Sharing with Tina is easy because she's a heavy sleeper. She never even flinched."

Sam chuckled. He knew Quinn well enough by now that he should've probably guessed that it would be the reason for her arrival here. A comfortable silence fell between them before Sam broke it again. "Who would've thought at the start of the year," he began, "that you, Puck, Rachel and me would all be friends like we are now."

"Not me!" Quinn admitted with a laugh, "It's crazy… things have moved so fast."

Sam gulped quietly. "Do you like it moving fast?"

Quinn had to think about that one. She shifted in her position in between Sam's legs and let her head rest on his chest lightly. "Yes." she finally answered, "It feels… good."

Sam let out a breath he was unaware that he had been holding. Sighing, he reached over to the window near his bed and dragged open his curtains. He moved around Quinn and gestured to the beautiful New York cityscape before them. The flashing lights were mesmerising.

Quinn watched the city pass before them in awe, truly captivated by the view. She let out a wistful sigh as she scrambled nearer to the window to get a better look. "It's beautiful…" she breathed longingly as she held onto the rim of the window like a child watching a firework show for the first time.

The city was beautiful, yes, but Sam thought that she was far more than that. Instead of watching what was outside the window, he watched her. "I know." he answered, squeezing her hand gently. "We're going to get out of Lima one day you know." he said with an air of confidence in his tone as he reluctantly turned his gaze from Quinn to the city.

She sighed, closing her eyes for a brief second before opening them again. "I really hope so, Sam. I really do."

"No, I know we will, Quinn. It'll be me and you. Us." she watched him with a smile spreading across her lips as he spoke. "Maybe we can move down here one day. You know, if I improve my grades we could get into a small, local college. I'll take art classes and work for a… comic book magazine and you could be… a kindergarten teacher, at the kindergarten that our kids will later attend."

She giggled. "Whoa, hold on a second, Sam." she placed a hand on his chest, "We're barely seniors yet - don't get ahead of yourself. And kids?"

Sam shrugged and a lopsided grin formed on his lips. "Yeah, totally. If we're going to get married one day, it's kind of an unspoken rule, isn't it?" he whispered, gently playing with the glimmering diamond on her finger.

A light flush spread across Quinn's cheeks as she processed his words. Eventually, she nodded. "Yeah… that sounds really good." she admitted as they lay down on the bed next to one another.

"Yeah, think about it - we could save up for an apartment. I'm sure you're mom wouldn't mind helping out either. After all, she adores me."

"That's very true…"

"And Puck and Rachel could come a visit from time to time. I'm pretty sure Rachel will be famous one day anyway and Puck will probably be, like, her manager or something. He wouldn't take no shit from nobody."

"Also true."

"And then, when we're ready, we can take the big step; decide when we want to have kids, think of names and stuff. I know that you'll want to be married and stuff before but I was thinking maybe we could sort that out as soon as we graduate high school and-"

"Sam, Sam, Sam! Just stop, okay?" Quinn demanded. She then immediately felt guilty about the way she'd lashed out on him as his eyes grew sad. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout…" she sighed, "it's just, when I said I liked going fast, I meant for now. We're still technically kids, as much as I hate to say that. Yes, I think we're going to get married one day and I love you, of course," Sam smiled at those familiar words, "but for once I just want to have a part of my life where I'm not constantly thinking about what's to come or the future. I just want to be me. I just want… to enjoy our time together and think about now. Not tomorrow, not next year, not ten years on - just now."

Sam stayed silent for a moment as he processed the words. "Well," he sighed with a smug grin forming on his lips, "that was quite a speech."

Quinn laughed off his comment. "I still don't understand how you can't be serious about anything yet you still manage to somehow plan our whole future in five minutes or something."

"Actually, I think about it all the time."

Quinn sighed and touched his face gently, bringing him in to a gentle kiss. "Well, don't, please. At least not yet. Lets just be kids in love for now, okay?"

"Deal." he sighed happily as he kissed her again. "Under one circumstance."

She groaned, already knowing what he was wishing for but it wasn't a groan that implied their next activities where about to be boring. She was groaning more in a way that she'd been waiting for this for so long. "Do I even have to ask?" she chuckled, sitting up and straddling him. She leaned down and kissed him passionately before he could answer.

They began to remove each others clothes, drawing patterns with their fingers on either ones bare skins, sharing hot kisses and pressing their bodies closely together. It was erotic, enticing and hypnotic as all of their sex usually was. This time though, it wasn't angst-filled or as sexually-driven as it had been in the past. It was more slow, gentle and comfortable for each other. Instead of angry screams and hot kissing, it was soft moans and gentle kisses. It felt right.

After it was done, they lay underneath the covers in each others arms, panting and sweating in the most gentle way one can. He planted a soft kiss on top of her head. "I love you so much, Quinn. I need you like air."

"I love you too, Sam…" Quinn was so filled with emotion she felt like crying. In fact, she was pretty sure that a few happy tears had rolled down her face as she nuzzled into the crook of his neck. "so, so much."

New Directions lost to Vocal Adrenaline the next day. It was sad to have come so far just to flail but in a lot of ways, they didn't feel like they did flail. They did their best and that was all they could have done. The coach ride home was one where they all shared their congratulations to one another on how well they had performed. No one cried or moaned over how the vote went down or the way they lost. They were simply happy to just be together.

And Quinn and Sam sat together at the back of the bus for the whole ride, holding each other tightly and sharing loving kisses. The group had come to accept them in no time at all and so people allowed them to have their moments together. You had to be blind to miss how in love they were.

**And that's the end! Thank you to every one that has read and favourited and reviewed this story. You're all really, really sweet :]**


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